Candidate Evaluations by Men and Women

Abstract

A widely accepted generalization in the social science literature is that women tend to personalize politics and politicians. The purpose of this article is twofold. The first is to determine whether an analysis of the available U.S. survey data from 1952 to 1976 tends to support the claims made about how women differ from men in their assessments of politicians. The second is to suggest alternative and more precise ways of conceptualizing both men's and women's responsesto and evaluation of political leaders.