The Effect of Counter-Stereotypes on Attitudes Toward Gender and LGBT Equality
Delivered via Zoom
Can exposure to counter-stereotypes about gender roles improve people’s attitudes toward gender equality and LGBT rights? Previous work suggests that gender stereotypes contribute to inequitable attitudes, but there is lack of empirical evidence on whether undermining such stereotypes enhance equitability. We conducted four survey experiments to test whether counter-stereotypical information about gender roles increase equitable attitudes toward women and sexual minorities. The experiments (a) examine stereotypes and attitudes in both political and non-political domains, (b) manipulate stereotypes about men as well as women, and© provide visual in addition to textual stimuli. We consistently find null results. We show that the null findings are unlikely to be because of ceiling or demand effects and that there is no evidence of subgroup effects. Moreover, using data on female clergy in the Church of England and the British Election Study, we show null effects in a non-experimental context. The paper provides important scholarly and policy implications for efforts to shift voter attitudes in more gender- and LGBT-equitable directions.
Date: 19 June 2020, 12:15 (Friday, 8th week, Trinity 2020)
Venue: Zoom
Speaker: Jae-Hee Jung
Organising department: Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR)
Organisers: Dr Radoslaw Zubek (University of Oxford), Professor Petra Schleiter (University of Oxford), Dr David Doyle (University of Oxford), Nelson Ruiz (University of Oxford)
Part of: Politics Research Colloquium
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Hannah Vinten