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applegrove

(118,725 posts) Mon Feb 2, 2015, 10:48 PM Feb 2015

Blame men for political gridlock, study says

Blame men for political gridlock, study says

University of Kansas

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150129113723.htm

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One implication is that female legislators might talk about politics and deliberately engage the other party more than their male colleagues," said Patrick Miller, assistant professor of political science. "That might have some effects on the kind of legislative environment we have. Maybe if we have more women in office, you'd have more communication, less fighting, and perhaps more legislating and less gridlock."

The researchers found that men in survey and experimental data were more likely than women to avoid cross-party political discussion, to judge political arguments based solely on what party is advancing them, and to form strong political opinions about the opposite party's positions without actually listening to the other side's reasoning.

"Male Democrats and Republicans more than female partisans expect interacting with the other party to be an unpleasant, conflictual, anxious, anger-filled experience," Miller said. "So as a result, they talk about politics with people in the other party less so than women."

The results of the study are based on survey data from the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study conducted nationwide and 2014 experimental results involving KU undergraduate students. Miller said the research is the first to apply the psychological idea of intergroup anxiety into political science.

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