Turns out there’s actually a good reason to spend $150,000 on Sarah Palin’s clothes and $10,000 to her make-up stylist.

For women political candidates looks matter. A lot.

Both men and women, it seems, are strongly influenced by the perceived attractiveness of female candidates. In fact, the looks of a female candidate was pretty much the only thing that mattered to male voters, according to a small research study published today.  If a woman candidate is lucky enough to be perceived as both attractive and competent, well, then look out. She could win in a landslide among both genders, the study found.

For male politicians, on the other hand, looks don’t matter a bit.  The thing that matters most for them is looking competent - though they get a slight edge among women if they also seem approachable.

All of this helps answer the question of why in this enlightened age only seven women held the highest office in any country in 2006. And why less than 50 women have won those top positions since 1960, the researchers say. It also may explain why Palin is so popular with men.

Humans are culturally biased toward thinking that male faces are always more competent - i.e, dominant - so in an election they have the advantage. Regardless of reality, men’s facial features signal qualities that we humans associate with effective leadership.

That fascinating study was published today by PLoS ONE, an on line scientific journal. To read the full research paper, go here. The lead researcher, Joan Chiao, an assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern  University in Chicago, studies how culture and biology influence behavior.

She tested the perceptions of 73 university students by showing them photographs of real congressional candidates. The students were asked to rate each candidate according to attractiveness, competence and approachability. Then they were shown pairs of photos and asked which one they would vote for.

It all comes back to mating, she says. We choose political candidates the same way we choose mates. Men are most interested in attractive women. Women are most interested in men who are competent (high social status and good providers), and who are easily approached.

She describes those gender biases as “cognitive short cuts,” which is a scientific way of saying gender stereotype. That will change only as the number of women in politics increases, she said.

Can you overcome your inate gender bias and vote for candidates on their real policies and competence? Or are we doomed to rule by our most ancient instincts?

This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 7:00 am and is filed under gender. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.