Accepting a woman president

Abstract

BACKGROUND In the spring of 1972 the National Opinion Research Center asked a probability sample of United States citizens the following question: "If your party nominated a woman for President, would you vote for her if she were qualified for the job?" The same question was researched again in 1974 and again in 1977. The same universe of non instutionalized English-speaking people aged 18 or older in the continental United States was used each time to generate a block quote. Sample of 1161 in 1972, a block quota sample of 1484 in 1974, and a full probability sample of 1530 in 1977. Ferree (1974) used data from both the National Opinion Research Center and the American Institute of Public Opinion, and described the results of asking a similar question of the United States pub Ii c six times from 1958 to 1972. She noted that 1972 marked a sharp change in attitude. She reported that in 1958, 55% would vote for a woman, and that this percentage stayed fair I y constant through the 1960' s, but increased considerably in 1972. This increase was particularly marked among young educated women. Similarly, education was unsystematically related to their willingness through the first five data sets, but became strongly and linearly related to it in 1972. Men had been more willing than women to vote for a woman until 1972. Ferree optimistically concluded that. These recent shifts toward less prejudice toward women would continue in a linear fashion in the future. The focus of the present research is to examine data collected since Ferree's analysis to determine what has occurred in people's willingness to vote for a woman for President, and to find the relation of sex, age, education, and other demographic variables to this issue.