When a Man Meets a Woman: Comparing the Use of Negativity of Male Candidates in Single- and Mixed-Gender Televised Debates

lightning_palm · 2023-01-21T10:52:53+00:00

Although I found their conclusion questionable, I believe this paper adds something interesting to the conversation.

Abstract

Much work has been done to analyze the consequences of the increasing representation of women in politics. Usually, this research compares male and female politicians from a female perspective. For instance, many studies in political communication investigate how and why female candidates show campaign styles similar to or different from their male colleagues. In contrast to this, few studies are interested in how men change their behavior when women enter the political arena. Some of these studies have demonstrated that men limit their negativity when confronted with female candidates. Unfortunately, these analyses focus predominantly on (a) the United States and (b) gender differences in campaign advertising. We seek to provide empirical evidence for non-U.S. campaigns from the most important single campaign events: televised debates. To do so, we analyze data covering all German televised debates broadcast since 1997 where male politicians participated in a two-candidate single- or mixed-gender debate. Our results indicate that the gender of the political opponent affects incivility but not the use of attacks in general. In mixed-gender debates there is less incivility. However, differences in the treatment of male and female opponents tend to decline over time. We conclude that female candidates transform campaign communication—not only because they communicate differently from men, but also because they influence male politicians’ political communication.

From the Summary and Conclusion section:

Our general argument is that male candidates are in conflict when facing a female opponent. On the one hand, they are expected to act according to their role as political leader. On the other hand, they are expected to act like a gentleman. With respect to the use of attacks in general, we provided arguments that male politicians cannot refrain from attacking their political opponent even if they are debating a female politician. Attacking and criticizing political rivals fulfills the generalized expectations for the behavior of a strong and successful leader.

As a result, we expected that male candidates will attack as much in mixed-gender debates as in single-gender debates. With respect to the use of uncivil attacks, we argued that their behavior is more affected by their gender role. By restraining themselves from being too harsh and disrespectful, male politicians try to meet the expectations of how men should behave toward females. Hence, we should see less incivility in mixed-gender debates than in single-gender debates. However, we additionally describe scenarios in which male candidates put aside their good manners and attack females as harshly and rudely as they would attack males. For example, we expected that the use of uncivil attacks is moderated by time, the political role of the opponent (i.e., challenger versus incumbent), and the strategic situation (i.e., the standing in the polls).

Using a unique data set including all American-style televised debates ever aired in the run-ups to German elections, our descriptive analysis reveals that men attack female opponents as often as male competitors. This supports H1. Furthermore, male candidates show significantly lower levels of incivility in mixed-gender than in single-gender debates.

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Title	When a Man Meets a Woman: Comparing the Use of Negativity of Male Candidates in Single- and Mixed-Gender Televised Debates
Author	lightning_palm
Upvotes	11
Comments	1
Date	January 21, 2023 10:45 AM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Male_Studies
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Male_Studies/comments/10hojia/when_a_man_meets_a_woman_comparing_the_use_of/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Male_Studies/when-a-man-meets-a-woman-comparing-the-use-of.1215617 https://theredarchive.com/post/1215617

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