How Differences in Media Framing Influences Women’s Response to Political Gender Gaps

According to a new study led by scholars at New York University, when the media frames the gender gap in political leadership as “men’s overrepresentation,” rather than than “women’s underrepresentation,” women viewers are more likely to respond with anger and express desire to take action against the gender disparity.

The study authors asked a sample of participants to read fake news stories that featured real-world data regarding the gender gaps in political leadership and in business. Among news stories that framed the gender gap in politics as “men’s overrepresentation,” women participants were more likely to respond with anger than male participants. In contrast, there was no association found in the response of both men and women participants regarding business leadership gender disparities.

Furthermore, women participants who did express anger regarding political gender gaps were more likely to want to combat the disparity, including actions such as reading other news stories on gender disparities, writing angry letters to their congressional representatives, and expressing desire to donate to programs that address gender disparities.