Tessa Ditonto
Biographic Data
| ID | 2474099 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tessa Ditonto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tessa |
| FAMILY NAME | Ditonto |
| SIGNATURE | DITONTO T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Iowa State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6503-6651 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 348 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
The Gendered Risks of Violating Expectations and the Importance of Information for Women Candidates
Partisanship is the primary driver of voter decision-making in the United States. Partisans expect to prefer their party’s candidates’ issue stances and personal characteristics. Even when they learn negative information, motivated reasoning often keeps them from changing their candidate evaluations or vote choice. However, there is a “tipping point” at which partisans will update their priors and may vote against their preferred party’s candidat…
Gender, Sexism, and Contempt in Candidate Evaluation
Several recent studies have shown that the emotion of contempt, which is often linked to negative appraisals of competence and integrity, is the most important negative emotion in some electoral contests. Furthermore, gender-based stereotypes and prejudice have been shown to cause voters to evaluate female candidates in ways that seem contemptuous, i.e. as inferior and having undesirable traits. In this study, we analyze how sexism and gender-bas…
The Importance of Candidate Sex and Partisan Preference over Time: A Multiday Study of Voter Decision Making
Women often face challenges when running for political office, but precisely when and how candidate sex affects voter decision making is unclear. Using a unique multiday, high-information experiment, we examine how the presence of women candidates in an election influences subjects’ information search, candidate evaluations, and vote decisions. We focus on how the partisan alignment of women candidates (whether they run in the subject’s preferred…
The Mediating Role of Information Search in the Relationship Between Prejudice and Voting Behavior
Evidence on the extent to which prejudice serves as a barrier to black and Latino candidates for office is mixed. Some research has found that black and Latino candidates are disadvantaged in terms of their chances of winning election and that they are evaluated differently by voters, while other findings suggest that this may not be the case. This article examines the effects of racial prejudice on candidate evaluation and voting behavior. It us…
Direct and indirect effects of prejudice: Sexism, information, and voting behavior in political campaigns
This paper examines the effects of gender-based prejudice on candidate evaluation and voting behavior. It uses a unique experimental design to test for direct effects of sexism on candidate evaluation and voting behavior, as well as indirect effects of sexism on these variables via the information that subjects seek out about women candidates. I find that subjects with higher scores on items measuring modern sexism are less likely to vote for fem…
Differences in Appearance-Based Trait Inferences for Male and Female Political Candidates
Studies show that automatic trait inferences can predict outcomes of actual elections, but these studies generally include male candidates only. Substantial evidence also shows that female candidates are subject to gender-based stereotypes, which can lead to differences in how men and women candidates are evaluated. This article combines these two literatures to compare the effects of competence, threat, and attractiveness inferences in elections…
Two’s a Crowd: Women Candidates in Concurrent Elections
Most research on evaluations of women candidates considers single elections in isolation. Using two Dynamic Process Tracing experiments, this article examines whether voters alter their evaluations of women candidates, as well as their willingness to learn about and vote for them, based on the presence of other women running simultaneously in concurrent contests. We find a consistent pattern in which female candidates are not adversely affected w…
Measuring Voter Decision Strategies in Political Behavior and Public Opinion Research
Although political science has advanced the study of voter decision-making, the discipline still understands very little about how citizens go about reaching those decisions. In this article, we introduce a five-factor self-report scale of political decision-making (PolDec-5) administered to six different samples with more than 6,500 respondents over the past four years. Analyses illustrate that our five subscales—Rational Choice, Confirmatory, F…
Information and its Presentation: Treatment Effects in Low-Information vs. High-Information Experiments
This article examines how the presentation of information during a laboratory experiment can alter a study’s findings. We compare four possible ways to present information about hypothetical candidates in a laboratory experiment. First, we manipulate whether subjects experience a low-information or a high-information campaign. Second, we manipulate whether the information is presented statically or dynamically. We find that the design of a study …
A face fit for office? Appearance-based competence inferences in high-information environments
Effect of Media Environment Diversity and Advertising Tone on Information Search, Selective Exposure, and Affective Polarization
This paper examines the effects of our modern media environment on affective polarization. We conducted an experiment during the last month of the 2012 presidential election varying both the choice of media sources available about the major presidential candidates, and the tone of political advertisements presented to subjects. We posit that voters in a high-choice, ideologically-diverse media environment will exhibit greater affective polarizati…
A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns
This study seeks to determine whether subjects in two dynamic process tracing experiments react differently to information related to a candidate’s competence when that candidate is a woman, vs. when he is a man. I find that subjects evaluate a candidate whose competence is in doubt less favorably, and are less likely to vote for the candidate, when she is a woman. In general, evaluations of women seem to be influenced much more by information re…
Gender Stereotypes, Information Search, and Voting Behavior in Political Campaigns
It is still unclear exactly how gender influences vote choice. Using an information processing perspective, we argue that instead of directly influencing vote choice, candidate gender guides the amounts and types of information that voters search for during a campaign, and that effects of gender on vote choice ultimately come from differences in information search influenced by candidate gender. Using two unique experimental datasets, we test the…
AMPing Racial Attitudes: Comparing the Power of Explicit and Implicit Racism Measures in 2008
In 2008, ANES included for the first time—along with standard explicit measures of old‐fashioned and symbolic racism—the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP), a relatively new implicit measure of racial attitudes. This article examines the extent to which four different measures of racial prejudice (three explicit and one implicit) predict public opinion during and after the 2008 election, including Americans' views towards several racial policy…
Gender Stereotypes, Information Search, and Voting Behavior in Political Campaigns
It is still unclear exactly how gender influences vote choice. Using an information processing perspective, we argue that instead of directly influencing vote choice, candidate gender guides the amounts and types of information that voters search for during a campaign, and that effects of gender on vote choice ultimately come from differences in information search influenced by candidate gender. Using two unique experimental datasets, we test the…
A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns
This study seeks to determine whether subjects in two dynamic process tracing experiments react differently to information related to a candidate’s competence when that candidate is a woman, vs. when he is a man. I find that subjects evaluate a candidate whose competence is in doubt less favorably, and are less likely to vote for the candidate, when she is a woman. In general, evaluations of women seem to be influenced much more by information re…
Effect of Media Environment Diversity and Advertising Tone on Information Search, Selective Exposure, and Affective Polarization
This paper examines the effects of our modern media environment on affective polarization. We conducted an experiment during the last month of the 2012 presidential election varying both the choice of media sources available about the major presidential candidates, and the tone of political advertisements presented to subjects. We posit that voters in a high-choice, ideologically-diverse media environment will exhibit greater affective polarizati…
AMPing Racial Attitudes: Comparing the Power of Explicit and Implicit Racism Measures in 2008
In 2008, ANES included for the first time—along with standard explicit measures of old‐fashioned and symbolic racism—the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP), a relatively new implicit measure of racial attitudes. This article examines the extent to which four different measures of racial prejudice (three explicit and one implicit) predict public opinion during and after the 2008 election, including Americans' views towards several racial policy…
Direct and indirect effects of prejudice: Sexism, information, and voting behavior in political campaigns
This paper examines the effects of gender-based prejudice on candidate evaluation and voting behavior. It uses a unique experimental design to test for direct effects of sexism on candidate evaluation and voting behavior, as well as indirect effects of sexism on these variables via the information that subjects seek out about women candidates. I find that subjects with higher scores on items measuring modern sexism are less likely to vote for fem…
The Importance of Candidate Sex and Partisan Preference over Time: A Multiday Study of Voter Decision Making
Women often face challenges when running for political office, but precisely when and how candidate sex affects voter decision making is unclear. Using a unique multiday, high-information experiment, we examine how the presence of women candidates in an election influences subjects’ information search, candidate evaluations, and vote decisions. We focus on how the partisan alignment of women candidates (whether they run in the subject’s preferred…
Measuring Voter Decision Strategies in Political Behavior and Public Opinion Research
Although political science has advanced the study of voter decision-making, the discipline still understands very little about how citizens go about reaching those decisions. In this article, we introduce a five-factor self-report scale of political decision-making (PolDec-5) administered to six different samples with more than 6,500 respondents over the past four years. Analyses illustrate that our five subscales—Rational Choice, Confirmatory, F…
Information and its Presentation: Treatment Effects in Low-Information vs. High-Information Experiments
This article examines how the presentation of information during a laboratory experiment can alter a study’s findings. We compare four possible ways to present information about hypothetical candidates in a laboratory experiment. First, we manipulate whether subjects experience a low-information or a high-information campaign. Second, we manipulate whether the information is presented statically or dynamically. We find that the design of a study …
Two’s a Crowd: Women Candidates in Concurrent Elections
Most research on evaluations of women candidates considers single elections in isolation. Using two Dynamic Process Tracing experiments, this article examines whether voters alter their evaluations of women candidates, as well as their willingness to learn about and vote for them, based on the presence of other women running simultaneously in concurrent contests. We find a consistent pattern in which female candidates are not adversely affected w…
A face fit for office? Appearance-based competence inferences in high-information environments
Differences in Appearance-Based Trait Inferences for Male and Female Political Candidates
Studies show that automatic trait inferences can predict outcomes of actual elections, but these studies generally include male candidates only. Substantial evidence also shows that female candidates are subject to gender-based stereotypes, which can lead to differences in how men and women candidates are evaluated. This article combines these two literatures to compare the effects of competence, threat, and attractiveness inferences in elections…
The Mediating Role of Information Search in the Relationship Between Prejudice and Voting Behavior
Evidence on the extent to which prejudice serves as a barrier to black and Latino candidates for office is mixed. Some research has found that black and Latino candidates are disadvantaged in terms of their chances of winning election and that they are evaluated differently by voters, while other findings suggest that this may not be the case. This article examines the effects of racial prejudice on candidate evaluation and voting behavior. It us…
Gender, Sexism, and Contempt in Candidate Evaluation
Several recent studies have shown that the emotion of contempt, which is often linked to negative appraisals of competence and integrity, is the most important negative emotion in some electoral contests. Furthermore, gender-based stereotypes and prejudice have been shown to cause voters to evaluate female candidates in ways that seem contemptuous, i.e. as inferior and having undesirable traits. In this study, we analyze how sexism and gender-bas…
AMPing Racial Attitudes: Comparing the Power of Explicit and Implicit Racism Measures in 2008
In 2008, ANES included for the first time—along with standard explicit measures of old‐fashioned and symbolic racism—the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP), a relatively new implicit measure of racial attitudes. This article examines the extent to which four different measures of racial prejudice (three explicit and one implicit) predict public opinion during and after the 2008 election, including Americans' views towards several racial policy…
Gender Stereotypes, Information Search, and Voting Behavior in Political Campaigns
It is still unclear exactly how gender influences vote choice. Using an information processing perspective, we argue that instead of directly influencing vote choice, candidate gender guides the amounts and types of information that voters search for during a campaign, and that effects of gender on vote choice ultimately come from differences in information search influenced by candidate gender. Using two unique experimental datasets, we test the…
Effect of Media Environment Diversity and Advertising Tone on Information Search, Selective Exposure, and Affective Polarization
This paper examines the effects of our modern media environment on affective polarization. We conducted an experiment during the last month of the 2012 presidential election varying both the choice of media sources available about the major presidential candidates, and the tone of political advertisements presented to subjects. We posit that voters in a high-choice, ideologically-diverse media environment will exhibit greater affective polarizati…
A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns
This study seeks to determine whether subjects in two dynamic process tracing experiments react differently to information related to a candidate’s competence when that candidate is a woman, vs. when he is a man. I find that subjects evaluate a candidate whose competence is in doubt less favorably, and are less likely to vote for the candidate, when she is a woman. In general, evaluations of women seem to be influenced much more by information re…
Differences in Appearance-Based Trait Inferences for Male and Female Political Candidates
Studies show that automatic trait inferences can predict outcomes of actual elections, but these studies generally include male candidates only. Substantial evidence also shows that female candidates are subject to gender-based stereotypes, which can lead to differences in how men and women candidates are evaluated. This article combines these two literatures to compare the effects of competence, threat, and attractiveness inferences in elections…
Two’s a Crowd: Women Candidates in Concurrent Elections
Most research on evaluations of women candidates considers single elections in isolation. Using two Dynamic Process Tracing experiments, this article examines whether voters alter their evaluations of women candidates, as well as their willingness to learn about and vote for them, based on the presence of other women running simultaneously in concurrent contests. We find a consistent pattern in which female candidates are not adversely affected w…
Measuring Voter Decision Strategies in Political Behavior and Public Opinion Research
Although political science has advanced the study of voter decision-making, the discipline still understands very little about how citizens go about reaching those decisions. In this article, we introduce a five-factor self-report scale of political decision-making (PolDec-5) administered to six different samples with more than 6,500 respondents over the past four years. Analyses illustrate that our five subscales—Rational Choice, Confirmatory, F…
Information and its Presentation: Treatment Effects in Low-Information vs. High-Information Experiments
This article examines how the presentation of information during a laboratory experiment can alter a study’s findings. We compare four possible ways to present information about hypothetical candidates in a laboratory experiment. First, we manipulate whether subjects experience a low-information or a high-information campaign. Second, we manipulate whether the information is presented statically or dynamically. We find that the design of a study …
A face fit for office? Appearance-based competence inferences in high-information environments
Direct and indirect effects of prejudice: Sexism, information, and voting behavior in political campaigns
This paper examines the effects of gender-based prejudice on candidate evaluation and voting behavior. It uses a unique experimental design to test for direct effects of sexism on candidate evaluation and voting behavior, as well as indirect effects of sexism on these variables via the information that subjects seek out about women candidates. I find that subjects with higher scores on items measuring modern sexism are less likely to vote for fem…
The Importance of Candidate Sex and Partisan Preference over Time: A Multiday Study of Voter Decision Making
Women often face challenges when running for political office, but precisely when and how candidate sex affects voter decision making is unclear. Using a unique multiday, high-information experiment, we examine how the presence of women candidates in an election influences subjects’ information search, candidate evaluations, and vote decisions. We focus on how the partisan alignment of women candidates (whether they run in the subject’s preferred…
The Mediating Role of Information Search in the Relationship Between Prejudice and Voting Behavior
Evidence on the extent to which prejudice serves as a barrier to black and Latino candidates for office is mixed. Some research has found that black and Latino candidates are disadvantaged in terms of their chances of winning election and that they are evaluated differently by voters, while other findings suggest that this may not be the case. This article examines the effects of racial prejudice on candidate evaluation and voting behavior. It us…
Gender, Sexism, and Contempt in Candidate Evaluation
Several recent studies have shown that the emotion of contempt, which is often linked to negative appraisals of competence and integrity, is the most important negative emotion in some electoral contests. Furthermore, gender-based stereotypes and prejudice have been shown to cause voters to evaluate female candidates in ways that seem contemptuous, i.e. as inferior and having undesirable traits. In this study, we analyze how sexism and gender-bas…
The Gendered Risks of Violating Expectations and the Importance of Information for Women Candidates
Partisanship is the primary driver of voter decision-making in the United States. Partisans expect to prefer their party’s candidates’ issue stances and personal characteristics. Even when they learn negative information, motivated reasoning often keeps them from changing their candidate evaluations or vote choice. However, there is a “tipping point” at which partisans will update their priors and may vote against their preferred party’s candidat…
Political science (13 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Politics (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (10 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Gender Politics and Representation (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (7 works)