Abstract
This project seeks to analyze how physical attributes, such as perceived dominance, and the policy proposals of candidates interact in electoral decisions, considering gender and information conditions (time pressure and access costs) as factors that structure biases and stereotypes in political behavior.
The research stems from evidence that when voters face cognitive or informational limitations, they tend to use heuristic shortcuts, such as physical appearance, to simplify their decision. Previous studies demonstrate that traits such as attractiveness, facial dominance, and perceived emotions influence the evaluation of candidates, and that these effects can differ between men and women, reproducing leadership and gender stereotypes.
The study proposes four main hypotheses: (1) under time pressure, the influence of physical attributes increases; (2) when accessing information is costly, voters prioritize visual cues; (3) female candidates are evaluated more by their appearance than male candidates, especially under conditions of low information; and (4) there is a tendency to value proposals from candidates of the same gender more highly.
The research uses a quantitative experimental design divided into two complementary phases. In the first phase (pretesting), the measurements of physical attributes obtained using the Face++ application will be validated through human evaluations of a set of 108 real photographs of mayoral candidates in Colombia. Each participant will evaluate 16 photographs on a Likert scale of 1 to 7, indicating the degree to which they consider the person portrayed to be dominant. These evaluations will allow for comparing the consistency of the algorithmic indicators with human perception, ensuring the validity of the visual stimuli that will be used in the experimental phase. Approximately 102 participants will be required to obtain at least 1,620 valid evaluations.
The second phase corresponds to the implementation of a conjoint experiment, a design widely used in the social sciences to identify the relative weight of multiple attributes in individual decisions. In this study, 444 participants (men and women aged 18 to 65, neither residents nor citizens of Colombia) will be presented with a series of candidate profile pairs containing randomized information about their gender, age, ideology, physical attractiveness, and policy proposals. The profiles will include a photograph (obtained from the ballot papers of the last four local elections in Colombia) and a brief summary of ideas compiled from actual campaign manifestos and condensed using ChatGPT.
The sample will be divided into three groups: a control group, a group subjected to time pressure, and a group with information access costs. Through this experimental manipulation, we will estimate how information conditions modify the weight of physical and gender attributes in electoral decisions. All participants will sign informed consent forms, the anonymity of responses will be guaranteed, and the data will be used exclusively for academic purposes.
The study aims to understand whether voters rely more on appearance when they feel rushed or when obtaining information is costly, and whether these effects differ for male and female candidates and voters. By doing so, the research seeks to shed light on how information constraints and gender-related stereotypes shape political decision-making. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of how real-world voting conditions influence electoral choices and democratic representation.