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Role-Model-In-Chief: Understanding a Michelle Obama Effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2019

Christina S. Haynes  and
Ray Block Jr.
Christina S. Haynes
Affiliation:
The University of Kentucky
Ray Block Jr.
Affiliation:
The University of Kentucky
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Abstract

Because of the national conversation about her status as a role model, the former First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) presents an opportunity to analyze an Obama effect—particularly, the idea that Michelle Obama's prominence as a political figure can influence, among other things, citizens’ impressions of black women in America. Using evidence from the 2011 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Washington Post survey, we demonstrate that Michelle Obama's status as a role model operates as a “moderated mediator”: it transmits the effect of the former FLOTUS’ media activities to respondents’ racial attitudes, and the degree to which role model status functions as a mediating variable differs by race (and, to a lesser degree, by gender). Thus, our research provides both a theoretical and an empirical contribution to the Obama-effect literature.

Keywords

Michelle Obamarole modelsracegendermedia exposurepolicy preferencepublic opinionmoderated mediation analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 15 , Special Issue 3: Special Symposium on Michelle Obama , September 2019 , pp. 365 - 402
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2019 

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