Do gender stereotypes influence citizens’ perceptions of government corruption? Gender stereotypes of female politicians generally cast an image of higher ethical behavior when compared to their male counterparts. While recent research has established a causal relationship between women’s involvement in politics and reduced concerns about political corruption, the results are limited exclusively to a western sample—where there are more female politicians and generally more gender equity. As such, we cannot ascertain (1) whether the purported effects of gender stereotypes are more pronounced because non-western women are seen as even more ethical, honest, and trustworthy; and if so, (2) whether this difference is driven more by men or women—or both. To examine this, I employed a conjoint survey experiment in Malaysia—home to one of the largest government corruption scandals globally to date (N = 2000). The results suggest men are perceived to be more likely to engage in corruption than women at a higher rate than what the existing literature suggests—and that much of this finding is driven by male respondents.

Do natural disasters influence electoral outcomes, and does this effect vary by candidate gender? While retrospective voting theory suggests that voters can rationally assess leader performance during crises, it often overlooks how candidate identity may shape evaluations in ways that depart from competence-based logics under conditions of threat. I argue that natural disasters intensify the role of gender in electoral decision-making, activating latent biases that disadvantage female candidates. Using panel data from 1,632 Philippine municipalities (2001–2010), I analyze mayoral elections merged with a geospatial typhoon exposure index to examine how disaster severity affects three electoral outcomes: candidate entry, candidate electoral success, and incumbent vote share. I find no evidence that disasters increase the supply of female candidates. However, typhoon exposure significantly reduces win rates for female challengers and erodes vote shares for female incumbents under repeated shocks. These findings suggest that climate crises amplify the political salience of gender, distorting voter evaluations and reinforcing patterns of under-representation of women in political office.