Does the context matter for the prevalence of political gender stereotypes? An experimental study in Flanders (Belgium) and Slovakia

This article tests the effect of the political and societal context on the prevalence of political gender stereotypes in Flanders (Belgium) and Slovakia. These settings present an interesting case for comparison: Flanders can be described as a gender-neutral political context, whereas the Slovak society is rather male-dominated and conservative. The results, based on an experimental survey conducted among comparable samples in both cases, indicate that issue competence, ideological position and general competence stereotypes are rather absent. Similarly, no evidence was found to support the embeddedness of political gender stereotypes in different contexts. Most importantly, the finding that voters’ perceptions of candidates are primarily based on the extent to which voters agree with the content of the presented policy position, demonstrates that other cues outweigh the importance of candidate sex