Saving Face: Identifying Voter Responses to Black Candidates and Female Candidates. Issue 2 (19th April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Krupnikov, Yanna; Piston, Spencer; Bauer, Nichole M.
• Is Part Of: Political psychology. Volume 37:Issue 2(2016:Apr.)
• Page Start: 253
• Page End: 273
• Publication Date: 2015-04-19
• Subjects: race -- gender -- black candidates -- female candidates -- social desirability -- experiments; Political psychology -- Periodicals; Political sociology -- Periodicals; 320.019
• DOI: 10.1111/pops.12261
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0162-895X

Abstract

Abstract : Much of what we know about the responses of voters to Black candidates and female candidates comes from experimental research. Yet the accuracy of experimental data can be threatened by the possibility that social desirability pressures contaminate self‐reporting. We address this threat in a project that considers psychological approaches to reducing social desirability pressures. Offering participants the opportunity to explain their decisions about sensitive subjects, such as voting for a Black or female candidate, can lessen social desirability pressures. We analyze this approach across three commonly used samples: undergraduate, adult convenience, and adult national. Our results suggest that existing experimental research overestimates voter support for Black and female candidates, but these issues can be mitigated with the simple innovation presented here.