Are Trump’s comments about Clinton’s health cause for concern?

During a speech on Monday, Donald Trump suggested that Hillary Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina” necessary to be president. Should we be worried about Clinton’s mental and physical health?

No, there is no indication that Clinton is unfit to be president in — health. Should we be worried about Trump’s sexist stereotyping? Yes.

{mosads}Trump’s comments reflect broad cultural stereotypes about women’s competence. Psychological research studies show that people tend to hold gender stereotypes about leadership and competence, at least at an unconscious level, associating leadership and competence more strongly with men than with women. These unconscious stereotypes can operate under the radar to influence our judgements and evaluations of individuals, even when we don’t consciously endorse the stereotypes.

Negative stereotypes about women’s competence are dangerous because they can lead people to trivialize women’s achievements and underestimate women’s potential — which Trump’s comments, in effect, are trying to do.

Controlled experimental studies in social psychology reveal the insidious nature of gender stereotyping and unconscious bias. In a recent study, for instance, science faculty evaluated the same application for a lab manager position, but half were told the application belonged to a male applicant and the other half were told it belonged to a female applicant.

Even though the applications were identical, science faculty were less likely to hire, less likely to mentor, and offered a lower starting salary when they thought the applicant was female rather than male. Other studies show similar results, with evaluators requiring women to demonstrate more evidence of competence to be considered as equally good as their male counterparts. Unsurprisingly, when evaluators are blind to candidates’ gender, we see an increase in women’s scores.

The effects of gender stereotyping are particularly strong in contexts where women have been historically underrepresented and excluded, such as high-power leadership positions like the U.S. presidency. For example, researchers found that voters evaluated the resume of a presidential candidate more negatively when the resume was ascribed to a woman than when it was ascribed to a man.

Together, the research literature shows strong evidence that gender stereotyping has not diminished, but rather has gone underground to affect unconscious processes that continue to negatively impact the evaluation of women. Importantly, the research evidence also indicates that both women and men are equally susceptible to making biased judgments based on gender stereotypes; unfortunately, Trump is no exception here.

Trumps comments not only underestimate Clinton’s potential, but his words also convey ideas about what makes an ideal president – that is, in Trump’s view the ideal president is someone who possesses traits that are stereotypically associated with men and not women. The underlying message is that women (as well as persons with disabilities and persons with health concerns) need not apply. Indeed, Trump’s comments are quite a cause for concern.

Jessica Cundiff is an assistant professor of psychological science at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.