Symmetric advantage? Ballot type, gender, and facial attractiveness in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies
Date
2019-04-22Author
Hansen, Holley E.
Dugan, Garrett
Jacobitz, Breanna
LaSpisa, Chase
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Some research suggests that candidates with a "pretty face" may have an electoral advantage, but it is less clear whether this advantage is due to the information shortcut taken by low-information voters, or whether it is due to deeper cognitive preferences that apply equally in low- and high-information voters. Mexico's Chamber of Deputies, which elects 300 members from single-member plurality districts and 200 members from political parties (based on the results of a closed-list proportional representation votes), offers a natural experiment to test this effect. We analyze photographs of the members of the 2015-2018 Mexican Chamber of Deputies to calculate facial symmetry, and while we fail to find a significant difference for male candidates, female candidates are judged based on their appearance, as SMD females have more symmetric features and PR females less symmetric ones than their male colleagues.
Citation
Hansen, H. E., Dugan, G., Jacobitz, B., & LaSpisa, C. (2019). The symmetric advantage? Ballot type, gender, and facial attractiveness in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. Poster session presented at the Oklahoma State University Women's Faculty Council Research Awards and Poster Symposium, Stillwater, OK.