The Face of Political Beliefs: Why Gender Matters for Electability

Abstract

The facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) of a person is associated with dominance and leadership. Our research examines the extent to which a perceiver’s political orientation biases their judgment of a political candidate’s electability based on the candidate’s facial characteristics, and stereotypes associated with the gender of the candidate. Four studies suggest that although fWHR is positively correlated with dominance evaluations of male faces, the same attribution is less likely to be made for female faces. Furthermore, political conservatives show stronger bias than liberals against female faces and are also less likely to elect female candidates associated with lower dominance. Finally, although liberals show greater intentions to vote for females than for males, high fWHR has little effect on voters’ perceptions of females’ electability regardless of their political orientation.