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Gender, Sex, and Trust in Government

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2020

Monika L. McDermott Open the ORCID record for Monika L. McDermott [Opens in a new window]  and
David R. Jones Open the ORCID record for David R. Jones [Opens in a new window]
Monika L. McDermott
Affiliation:
Fordham University
David R. Jones
Affiliation:
Baruch College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York
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Abstract

As Americans’ trust in their government—most specifically Congress—has declined over the past half century, it has become increasingly important to answer the question of who does or does not trust government and why. Trust research tends to take for granted that sex affects trust—most studies control for it—but results have been mixed. This could be because researchers have been looking at the wrong aspect of gender, relying on the traditional distinction of sex rather than an alternative—the non-sex-specific distinction of feminine personality traits. These traits are communal in nature, and as such, they may lead to higher levels of trust in government. This article analyzes the potential effect of femininity, demonstrating that feminine personalities are significantly more trusting of our governing institutions than nonfeminine personalities.

Keywords

Genderfemininitysexpersonalitytrust in government
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 297 - 320
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association

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