Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2019
Capstone Advisor
Emily Thorson
Honors Reader
Shana Gadarian
Capstone Major
Political Science
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
yes
Won Capstone Funding
yes
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
American Politics | Other Political Science | Political Science | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
In American politics, elected officials often engage in transgressions that result in scandals. This thesis presents the results of an experiment testing how a politician's gender and the issuance or lack of an apology affect voters' evaluations of elected officials engrossed in a financial scandal. An experiment with 530 participants shows that politicians who apologize for financial misconduct are evaluated more favorably than politicians who do not apologize. In addition, the elected official's gender does not affect evaluations, and male candidates who apologized are not favored over women candidates who apologized. However, women respondents believed female candidates who did not apologize were tougher and more assertive in politics. This finding may suggest a shift in women's expectations of female candidate behavior.
Recommended Citation
Trainor, Julia, "The Effects of Gender and Apology on Evaluations of Political Misconduct" (2019). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 1107.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1107
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