Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 30, 2025
09:03
Post-Movie Subliminal Measurement PMSM, for Investigating Implicit Social Bias
Published on: February 29, 2020
6.0K
Political Narratives and the US Partisan Gender Gap.
Armenak Antinyan1,2, Thomas Bassetti3, Luca Corazzini4
1Wenlan School of Business, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.
Frontiers in Psychology
|July 5, 2021
Summary
Exposure to COVID-19 origin narratives, such as the lab or nature theories, widens the Partisan Gender Gap (PGG). This effect is strongest between men in Republican states and women in Democratic states.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Social Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- The Partisan Gender Gap (PGG) describes the tendency for US women to hold more liberal political views and men to hold more conservative views.
- Understanding the drivers of the PGG is crucial for comprehending political polarization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how exposure to different narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic's origins affects the Partisan Gender Gap.
- To examine if political orientation of the state of residence moderates this effect.
Main Methods:
- A survey experiment involving 3,086 US residents during the COVID-19 emergency.
- Participants were exposed to either a 'Lab narrative' (Wuhan lab accident) or a 'Nature narrative' (wildlife origin) about COVID-19's cause, or a baseline condition.
- Analysis of how these narrative exposures influenced participants' political preferences.
Main Results:
- Exposure to both the 'Lab narrative' and 'Nature narrative' increased the Partisan Gender Gap, making women more liberal compared to the baseline.
- The polarization effect was amplified by the political leaning of the participants' state of residence.
- The most significant PGG effect was observed between men in Republican-leaning states and women in Democratic-leaning states.
Conclusions:
- Alternative narratives regarding the COVID-19 pandemic's origins can exacerbate political polarization and widen the Partisan Gender Gap.
- Geographic and political context significantly influences the impact of information on political attitudes.
- The study highlights the role of information environments in shaping gendered political divides.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:30Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
124
Social-emotional experiences and cultural influences play significant roles in shaping gender development. During middle childhood, from ages 6 to 11, peer groups become dominant in reinforcing gender norms. Children in this age group often align with same-gender peer groups, which actively encourage behaviors that conform to traditional gender roles. For instance, boys may be discouraged from engaging in activities perceived as feminine, reinforcing culturally dictated norms about masculinity...
124
02:55Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
92.9K
Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who...
92.9K
01:01Group Polarization
36.8K
Group polarization is the strengthening of an original group attitude following the discussion of views within a group (Teger & Pruitt, 1967). That is, if a group initially favors a viewpoint, after discussion the group consensus is likely a stronger endorsement of the viewpoint. Conversely, if the group was initially opposed to a viewpoint, group discussion would likely lead to stronger opposition.
36.8K
01:23Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
189
In a study where individuals posing as strangers offered compliments and proposed casual sex to students, the responses differed significantly based on gender. Not a single woman accepted the proposal, while 70% of the men agreed. This outcome provides a useful scenario to explore through the lens of evolutionary psychology and social learning theory, highlighting the diverse perspectives on human sexual behaviors.
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
189
02:16Stereotype Content Model
15.0K
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) was first proposed by Susan Fiske and her colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002; see also Fiske, 2012 and Fiske, 2017). The SCM specifies that when someone encounters a new group, they will stereotype them based on two metrics: warmth—or that group’s perceived intent, and how likely they are to provide help or inflict harm—and competence—or their ability to carry out that objective. Depending on the warmth-competence...
15.0K
02:09Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
40.4K
When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
40.4K