ABSTRACT
Stereotyping is a common psychological process by which individuals evaluate the world around them. According to social psychological theory, people, through direct experience or other exposure, develop beliefs about the characteristics of social groups. The opposite of stereotyping, relying on specific information about an object to draw conclusions, is more difficult, given the typical constraints on the amount and quality of information available to the average person. Since the 1970s, the General Social Survey has asked respondents a series of questions that try to determine how the public thinks about the emotional characteristics and social roles of women and men as they relate to politics. In developing an extensive literature on women candidates for elective office, political scientists have demonstrated that the public looks at women and men in politics in predictably stereotypic ways. The final evaluations of women candidates to be examined tap into perceived differences in policy interests and specialties between women and men.
