Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton take aim at Donald Trump in Miami, Florida, on Super Tuesday
(
Reuters
)
Just the thought of earning less than their wives is enough to make some men in the US switch their vote from Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump, a study suggests.
Pollsters found that reminding men about gender issues, specifically whether they earned more or less than their partner, led to a huge 24-point swing away from the female presidential candidate to the male alternative.
The matter did not seem to be divided along party lines – there was no such shift among participants asked to choose between Mr Trump and Democrat runner Bernie Sanders.
Instead, the survey suggests large numbers of men who perceive a threat to their masculinity will lurch away from the idea of a female president.
The study was conducted by the PublicMind team at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, with married or cohabiting participants given a standard political survey with one extra question snuck in: Do you earn more, less or about the same as your partner?
“This was a simple experiment,” said Dan Cassino, who directed the research. “Half the people interviewed were posed with a question that prompted thoughts about gender and the other half were not.”
Only 15 per cent of men in the US earn less money than their spouse – but it was not the actual answer to the question that pollsters were interested in.
“The reason we asked the question was to push men to think about potential threats to their gender roles,” Cassino wrote in an article for the Harvard Business Review.
Donald Trump's most controversial quotes
Show all 14
Donald Trump's most controversial quotes
1/14 On Isis:
"Some of the candidates, they went in and didn’t know the air conditioner didn’t work and sweated like dogs, and they didn’t know the room was too big because they didn’t have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?"
Getty
2/14 On immigration:
"I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
Reuters
3/14 On Free Trade:
"Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people."
PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images
4/14 On Mexicans:
"When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists."
Getty
5/14 On China:
"I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower."
Getty Images
6/14 On work:
"If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable."
AP
7/14 On success:
"What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate."
8/14 On life:
"Everything in life is luck."
AFP
9/14 On ambition:
"You have to think anyway, so why not think big?"
Getty Images
10/14 On his opponents:
"Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it."
Reuters
11/14 On Obamacare:
"You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3."
Getty Images
12/14 On Barack Obama:
"Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House."
PA
13/14 On himself:
"Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money."
Getty Images
14/14 On America:
"The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again."
GETTY
1/14 On Isis:
"Some of the candidates, they went in and didn’t know the air conditioner didn’t work and sweated like dogs, and they didn’t know the room was too big because they didn’t have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?"
Getty
2/14 On immigration:
"I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me —and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
Reuters
3/14 On Free Trade:
"Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people."
PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images
4/14 On Mexicans:
"When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists."
Getty
5/14 On China:
"I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower."
Getty Images
6/14 On work:
"If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable."
AP
7/14 On success:
"What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate."
8/14 On life:
"Everything in life is luck."
AFP
9/14 On ambition:
"You have to think anyway, so why not think big?"
Getty Images
10/14 On his opponents:
"Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it."
Reuters
11/14 On Obamacare:
"You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3."
Getty Images
12/14 On Barack Obama:
"Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House."
PA
13/14 On himself:
"Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money."
Getty Images
14/14 On America:
"The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again."
GETTY
“Being the breadwinner has been a linchpin of US men’s masculinity for decades, so even the potential of making less than one’s spouse threatens accepted gender roles.”
Men who did not receive the gender question overwhelmingly supported Ms Clinton in a hypothetical match-up – by 49 per cent to 33 per cent.
But among men who did receive the gender question, Trump was supported by 50 per cent to 42 per cent.
The pollsters noted that women respondents invariably preferred Ms Clinton, whose campaign has specifically targeted female voters and has not been dogged by the same accusations of sexism as Mr Trump’s.
But women who were prompted to think about the gender pay gap were even more likely to vote Clinton, with a shift of around 10 points.
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