What does it mean for a political candidate to be likable? Most models of vote choice include some element of likability, and much polling and media attention during electoral campaigns is often devoted to the likability (or lack thereof) of the individuals in the race. Yet as a concept, likability is difficult to define and little political science literature has systematically considered the factors that contribute to or detract from perceptions of likability. Prior research points to the possibility that a candidate’s gender, race and partisanship may each play an important role in the formation of those perceptions.
In this paper, we examine the relationship between gender, race, partisanship and likability for political candidates. Using conjoint experiments, we seek to determine the characteristics that make a candidate seem likable or not and whether this differs by candidate gender. We also explore how the content and consequences of likability evaluations vary for women based on race, ethnicity and/or political party. Finally, we consider whether there are voter characteristics that interact with candidate attributes to influence likability. We find that women are seen as more likable than men when they are evaluated as non-political individuals, but that this advantage disappears when they are described as political candidates. We also find that candidates with children and particular gendered personality traits are seen as more likable than those without. Further, women of color are seen as similarly likable to white women, but some men of color are seen as less likable than white men. Finally, we find effects for participant gender and partisanship such that women and Democrats find women candidates to be more likable than men, while men and Republicans find men to be more likable than women.
In sum, likability evaluations seem to be nuanced and context-dependent, and are affected by the interaction of candidate and participant characteristics. While women’s political representation has increased substantially, enormous disparities still persist. Perceptions of candidate likability influenced by stereotypes and biases based in gender, race and partisanship may be a key factor in explaining these disparities.
