Publication
A Feminine or Masculine Crisis? Gender Stereotypes and Leadership During a Pandemic
In this article, assistant professor Jaroslaw Kantorowicz and colleagues examine how gender stereotypes influence perceptions of candidates' competence in managing various crises, including pandemics like COVID-19, based on personality traits associated with policy issues
- Author
- Jaroslaw Kantorowicz, Justyna Dabrowska, Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko
- Date
- 10 January 2025
- Links
- Read the full article here
The article compares three types of crises : 1) a health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the focus of this paper; 2) a national security crisis, where male leaders seem to be perceived more competent; 3) an economic crisis, which is a more neutral context where there is no clear evidence supporting masculine or feminine trait preferences. The researchers conducted a vignette experiment in June 2020 on a quota-representative sample of the Polish population, varying the gender and personality traits of hypothetical candidates. This approach builds on previous work by Huddy and Terkildsen (1993), adapting it to examine gender stereotypes in political leadership during different crisis scenarios.
Findings show no evidence for the effect of gender or gender-traits on the evaluation of competence to manage a pandemic crisis such as COVID-19, unlike with a national security crisis, where male and masculine candidates are ranked as more competent, and an economic crisis, where masculine candidates are ranked more competent. These results confirm the need for a more nuanced look at different types of crises.
The contribution of this article is threefold. Firstly, this article uniquely examines gender stereotypes in political leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis stereotypically associated with feminine traits. It explores potential biases against women leaders or if such biases are bidirectional. Secondly, unlike most studies focused on American politics, this research investigates the issue in a different geographical context, addressing the global under-representation of women in high political positions. Finally, the study provides experimental evidence on individual determinants of leader perception, analysing how female/male leaders or those with feminine/masculine traits are perceived and what drives these perceptions.