Wood, Reed and Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah and Johns, Rob and Davies, Graeme (2026) Understanding (Gendered) Public Tolerance of Violent Threats against Politicians. European Journal of Political Research. pp. 1-21. DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S1475676526101455
Wood, Reed and Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah and Johns, Rob and Davies, Graeme (2026) Understanding (Gendered) Public Tolerance of Violent Threats against Politicians. European Journal of Political Research. pp. 1-21. DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S1475676526101455
Wood, Reed and Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah and Johns, Rob and Davies, Graeme (2026) Understanding (Gendered) Public Tolerance of Violent Threats against Politicians. European Journal of Political Research. pp. 1-21. DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S1475676526101455
Abstract
Women receive a disproportionate share of the online abuse and violent threats made against politicians. Yet, mounting cross-national evidence also suggests that the long-observed gender disparity in citizens’ voting preferences has rapidly diminished – and arguably reversed – in recent decades. Emerging experimental research likewise suggests the broader public in many democratic countries is particularly sensitive to online abuse and threats against women politicians. Herein, we highlight the sexist beliefs of audiences as an important explanation for this apparent inconsistency. Analyzing data from a vignette experiment embedded within a wider survey administered to a demographically representative sample of the British electorate, we demonstrate that the sex of the candidate has only limited influence on observers’ tolerance for threats against politicians. However, respondents that held more sexist attitudes were both more tolerant of violent threats against politicians and particularly tolerant of abuse directed against female candidates. More concerningly, we find that priming sexist respondents to think about female candidates increased support for abusive behaviors against politicians more generally, irrespective of their sex. Our results add to the growing evidence that tolerance for political violence is driven not so much by partisan hostility and ideological polarization as by specific personality traits.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | violence against politicians; gender and politics; hostile sexism; gendered political violence; United Kingdom |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Government, Department of |
| SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
| Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jun 2026 13:59 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2026 13:59 |
| URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/43170 |
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