{"title":"What it means to know: gender differences in how white men and women justify their drug-related political beliefs","authors":"M. Brielle Harbin","doi":"10.1057/s41311-024-00614-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Existing research has documented a gender gap in political knowledge. The current study uses white women and men’s beliefs about drug abuse and addiction in the USA as a case study to observe how they rationalize about social issues. I introduce a novel typology of political knowledge stemming from proximal contact with social problems. Drawing on a content analysis of 1,292 open-ended survey responses, I found that both white men and women commonly referred to information gathered from media sources and their local community when justifying their beliefs about drug abuse and addiction. However, women nearly as frequently mentioned the experiences of members of their social network when justifying their beliefs. Given these findings, I conclude that broadening our conceptualization of political knowledge offers researchers an opportunity to observe how gender roles and cultural expectations may be informing how men and women express political ideas and information.</p>","PeriodicalId":46593,"journal":{"name":"International Politics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Politics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-024-00614-4","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Existing research has documented a gender gap in political knowledge. The current study uses white women and men’s beliefs about drug abuse and addiction in the USA as a case study to observe how they rationalize about social issues. I introduce a novel typology of political knowledge stemming from proximal contact with social problems. Drawing on a content analysis of 1,292 open-ended survey responses, I found that both white men and women commonly referred to information gathered from media sources and their local community when justifying their beliefs about drug abuse and addiction. However, women nearly as frequently mentioned the experiences of members of their social network when justifying their beliefs. Given these findings, I conclude that broadening our conceptualization of political knowledge offers researchers an opportunity to observe how gender roles and cultural expectations may be informing how men and women express political ideas and information.
期刊介绍:
International Politics?is a leading peer reviewed journal dedicated to transnational issues and global problems. It subscribes to no political or methodological identity and welcomes any appropriate contributions designed to communicate findings and enhance dialogue.International Politics?defines itself as critical in character truly international in scope and totally engaged with the central issues facing the world today. Taking as its point of departure the simple but essential notion that no one approach has all the answers it aims to provide a global forum for a rapidly expanding community of scholars from across the range of academic disciplines.International Politics?aims to encourage debate controversy and reflection. Topics addressed within the journal include:Rethinking the Clash of CivilizationsMyths of WestphaliaHolocaust and ChinaLeo Strauss and the Cold WarJustin Rosenberg and Globalisation TheoryPutin and the WestThe USA Post-BushCan China Rise Peacefully Just WarsCuba Castro and AfterGramsci and IRIs America in Decline。