Abstract:

Why do some politicians get away with using insensitive language on hot-button issues like race, gender, sex, and religion, whereas others do not? Scholars have mostly explained differential outcomes based on independent factors related either to the content of speech itself or the situation surrounding it. In this registered report, we formulate a generalized template that integrates key elements of both. Regarding content, we predict that voters react most negatively to slurs aimed at their own identity group, and to politicians who fail to take responsibility for their comments. Regarding the situation, we predict that vot- ers respond most aversely where there are no mitigating circumstances, and to politicians whose background traits differ from their own. We will test our theory with a preregistered conjoint experiment on a nationally-representative U.S. sample. Our project extends exist- ing scholarship, which has largely explained the results of speech scandals as a function of a small number of causative variables in isolation.