Hillary Clinton didn’t win the 2016 election and didn’t grow to be the primary female president of the United States. However, Clinton’s presidential campaign was still very fashionable with many women, who said it made them more likely to achieve this. get involved in politics.
When women run for office, it may possibly inspire other women and girls to grow to be more politically energetic. Clinton, Vice President Kamala Harris, presidential candidate Nikki Haley and other famous politicians motivated women to follow in their footsteps and consider running for office.
It seems that the identical sort of inspiration can occur when the politician isn’t actually real, but a personality from a fictional TV show.
I’m researcher of political communication and media psychology. My research shows that women watching the major character of a fictional political television program can increase their interest in participating in politics and their belief that they will influence the electoral process and its results.
American women’s political involvement
Women run for office in the US and are less likely than men to hold political office. Just 28% of Congress and 24% of state governors are women. United States ranks 86th out of 152 countries in terms of the variety of women holding political offices and the length of time they held these positions, according to the World Economic Forum.
WITH except votingwomen less often than men participate in political activities. Compared to men, women often feel this fashion less confidence in their ability to understand politics.
The role model effect documents showing that women and girls are more encouraged to participate in politics after they see other women running for political office.
My research team found that this role model effect will also be translated to fictional television content.
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Connecting with TV characters
Fictional characters Alice Florrick, Oliwia Popek AND Elizabeth McCord these are examples of women whose political power only exists on television.
Alicia Florrick, played by Julianna Margulies, worked as a lawyer in Chicago before eventually running for Illinois Attorney General on the CBS drama “The Good Wife,” which aired from 2009-2016.
Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, worked as a political influencer and consultant on ABC’s political thriller series “Scandal,” which began production in 2012 and ended in 2018.
Elizabeth McCord, played by Téa Leoni, often overcame political obstacles because the US Secretary of State – and later as the primary female US president – on the CBS drama “Madam Secretary,” which aired from 2014-2019.
In each of those performances, the major character is a lady in a non-stereotypical role – a frontrunner who effectively deals with political problems.
When people watch these TV shows, they will feel a powerful bond with their characters, as researchers call it parasocial relationships. Viewers even exploit their attachments to TV characters to satisfy their need to feel connected with other people.
Sometimes connecting with fictional characters – i seeing strong, female characters – may even encourage viewers to grow to be more involved in politics.
Inspiring political commitment
Two studies I co-authored show how viewers’ relationships with TV characters influence their political involvement.
Political involvement can mean many things, including how closely someone follows news concerning the government and elections. Political involvement can even mean feeling that you could make a difference in elections and that you’ve got an influence on what the federal government does. Political involvement may additionally include circulating petitions, attending political rallies or speeches, and, after all, voting.
We found that viewers formed a powerful bond with the fictional women, and that connection continued even after the tip credits of every episode.
In our first examination On this topic, in 2019 we conducted a survey amongst individuals who watched a number of of three programs: “Madam Secretary”, “The Good Wife” and “Scandal”. Compared to individuals who watched less steadily, viewers who often watched one in all these programs, who were mostly women, had particularly strong connections with the major character of that program. These connections with the fictional character resulted in viewers reporting an increasing interest in politics, a way that they may make a difference in the electoral process, and greater intentions to participate in politics.
In our second examination as of 2020, we collected data from individuals who were much less conversant in these programs. Participants in the experiment watched the major female character in “Madam Secretary” or the major male character in one other series whose plot focused on politics or family.
Compared to the opposite experimental conditions, participants who self-identified as more feminine, mainly women, experienced stronger connections with the major character when she was portrayed in a plot coping with a political issue. This, in turn, increased their interest in politics, their sense of political efficacy and their plans to participate in political life.
Importantly, our study shows that simply seeing women as major characters on television isn’t enough to encourage women and girls to grow to be more involved in politics. Instead, these female characters must be portrayed as political leaders.
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More than simply entertainment
Fictional television can influence the viewer political attitudes AND political preferences. Political TV shows, especially, can do each funny and thought-provoking for viewers.
Taking into consideration limited amount of non-stereotypical TV content featuring women, political TV shows with women as major characters could be particularly influential. Series like “Madam Secretary,” “Scandal,” “The Good Wife,” and most recently, the Netflix political drama “Diplomat” all feature strong female characters with high-profile political careers, entertaining thousands and thousands of viewers.
But these shows don’t just entertain viewers. The power of a female character hosting a political TV show goes beyond rankings and extends to real-world political engagement.
