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Political Leadership in the Media: Gender Bias in Leader Stereotypes during Campaign and Routine Times

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  • Aaldering, Loes
  • Van Der Pas, Daphne Joanna

Abstract

This article studies gender differences in media portrayals of political leadership, starting with the expectation that male politicians are evaluated more often on traits belonging to the male leader stereotype, and that female politicians have no such advantage. These gender differences are expected to be especially pronounced during non-campaign periods. To test these expectations, a large-scale automated content analysis of all Dutch national newspapers from September 2006 to September 2012 was conducted. The results show that male politicians received more media coverage on leadership traits in general, although the male and female leader stereotypes explain most of the variation in gender bias between leadership traits. These gender effects are found during seldom-studied routine periods but not during campaigns. As leadership trait coverage has electoral consequences, this gender-differentiated coverage likely contributes to the under-representation of women in politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Aaldering, Loes & Van Der Pas, Daphne Joanna, 2020. "Political Leadership in the Media: Gender Bias in Leader Stereotypes during Campaign and Routine Times," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 911-931, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:50:y:2020:i:3:p:911-931_6
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    Cited by:

    1. Miriam Siemon & Wolfgang Reißmann, 2023. "Negotiating Care Work: Gendered Network Structures of Pandemic Care Discourses on Twitter in Germany," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 125-138.

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