When you think of women in positions of power and authority, is the first thing that comes to mind what they look like? And if you compared voting records of female legislators, would you expect to find a difference in appearance between Republicans and Democrats?
UCLA psychology researchers Colleen Carpinella and Kerri Johnson did. They recently found evidence of a positive correlation between female Republican House members and feminine facial features.
Will this study stand the test of time and scientific scrutiny? If so, just why might this relationship exist? Watch the video above and sound off by taking the poll and leaving a comment below. Come on, talk nerdy to me!
KERRI JOHNSON: I want to be very clear in describing our results, we did not study facial attractiveness. So it would be inappropriate for us to conclude that Republican women are more attractive than Democratic women. Some folks in the press have gotten that wrong. That’s not what we studied here.
CARA SANTA MARIA: Hi everyone. Cara Santa Maria here. Have you seen these recent headlines? On Fox Nation, "Study: Female GOP Politicians Are Prettier." And on Rush Limbaugh, "Study: GOP Women Are More 'Feminine'," in quotes. See, UCLA psychology researchers Colleen Carpinella and Kerri Johnson recently found evidence of a link between Republican legislative voting records and feminine facial features. But the study did not measure attractiveness, beauty, sex appeal, or anything like that.
KERRI JOHNSON: We obtained those facial images of the entirety of the 111th House of Representatives, we analyzed the sex typicality or the gender typicality of the facial characteristics and we found exactly as we predicted. Among Republicans, particularly the women, they were very likely to be feminine in their appearance. This tendency was much less pronounced among the Democrats.
CSM: That's Kerri Johnson. She's the lead author of the study we're talking about. She's concerned about the way some journalists are misrepresenting the research she's doing. I am too. The media has a duty to the public to be clear and honest when reporting science news.
KJ: Some people ask me whether we think that there’s something biological that’s underlying this. And we don’t think that’s the case at all. Instead what we think this reveals is the preference by conservative and liberal constituents. Specifically a preference among conservative constituents to insist that their political candidates, that their politicians that they ultimately place in office, reveal through their appearance the values that they hold dear--here, traditional sex norms.
CSM: Kerri thinks Republican voters may be more likely to elect women with feminine features because it fits in with a preference for traditional gender roles.
KJ: If you take a look at the Democratic Party platform and the ideals that are advocated by Democrats, they really do aim to diminish gender inequalities. And so if you take things like salary equity and this sort of thing that would be part of the Democratic platform. Whereas the Republican Party in contrast tends to advocate for policies and positions that reinforce traditional gender norms. We suspected that these ideals, these policy preferences among Democrats and Republicans might be revealed in the facial characteristics of the politicians who are ultimately put in office. So that’s what we tested.
CSM: But this is really all speculation. Kerri and Colleen found a correlation between Republican affiliation and feminine facial characteristics. Why this relationship exists is up for interpretation. But as Kerri points out:
KJ: It’s increasingly evident that constituents often make decisions about who they vote for based on very minimal superficial cues. Now this isn’t true with everyone. Very well-informed voters are certainly not to be as heavily influenced by the physical appearance of the candidates. However, uninformed constituents or those who don’t have strong opinions are more likely to be influenced by a candidate’s physical appearance, and this is a first step in understanding how these factors might play out.
CSM: I'll be interested to see if these results can be repeated by other researchers in other labs. If so, it could shed light on the struggles that women in positions of authority face every day in the workplace.
KJ: We know for example that facial femininity and femininity in general in an organizational context is perceived to be a poor fit. And consequently women who are holding leadership roles are often facing a double bind. Not only must they appear agentic, they need to get the job done and do so competently, but they need to appear feminine in order to be liked. And so we believe that this, really this double bind, manifests not only in organizations but also in politics and specifically in our study, among Republican constituents.
CSM: What do you think? Why might these Republican women be more feminine in appearance? Will this study stand the test of time and scientific scrutiny? Weigh in on Facebook, Twitter, or leave a comment right here on The Huffington Post. Come on, talk nerdy to me!
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