Do Missile Launches Reduce Support for Female Candidates?

Stirring Up Anxiety and the Activation of Stereotypes

Abstract

　Recently, various incidents have heightened voter anxiety in areas traditionally associated with male leadership. If these anxieties activate voters' gender stereotypes, they may negatively affect female candidates. In this paper, we examine the impact of information that incites anxiety, especially that which activates masculine stereotypes, on voters' evaluations of female candidates. In our conjoint experiment, we found that voters who received information that incited anxiety about missile launches were less likely to support female candidates than those who did not. This effect is particularly pronounced among male voters, who are significantly less willing to vote for female candidates after receiving such information. Conversely, female voters' support for female candidates remained unchanged under similar conditions. These results suggest that exposure to information that activates gender stereotypes, even if unrelated to the candidate, influences voter behavior.