Partisan and/or Gender Homophily: The Influence of Social Identity-Based Elaboration on Political Candidate Evaluation

Employing social identity theory, this study explores the interaction of gender and party variables in political elections. We used an experimental approach with a two (man/woman) x two (Republican/Democrat) design, in which participants viewed a political website, to assess the influence of shared and competing identities in candidate evaluations as well as the mechanisms of influence. Upholding previous findings, we found that a candidate's partisan identity carried significantly more weight than their gender identity. Extending previous findings, results reveal that shared identities increase feelings of homophily, which biases elaboration about the candidate. This identity-biased elaboration influences attitudes and voting decisions.