Unconscious Biases & Vote Choice Survey
Galvanize Action conducted a survey of two groups of 600 moderate white women (total n= 1,200) from October–November 2024. This survey examined how racial resentment and internalized sexism shaped this audience’s civic choices. The analysis suggests that unconscious biases play a significant role in shaping vote choice and perceptions of presidential candidates among moderate white women.
KEY OPINION QUESTION #1
In the 2024 presidential election, who do you plan to vote for?
- Kamala Harris
- Donald Trump
- Another candidate
- Not sure
- Will not vote
Moderate white women (n= 1,200)
| Kamala Harris | 35% |
| Donald Trump | 48% |
| Another candidate | 3% |
| Not sure | 9% |
| Will not vote | 6% |
TOPLINE TAKEAWAY
- Nearly half (48%) of moderate white women said they would vote for Donald Trump, compared to 35% who said they would vote for Kamala Harris.
VOTE CHOICE BY LEVEL OF INTERNALIZED SEXISM
This survey asked custom questions containing items from Galvanize Action’s internalized sexism scale. Based on their responses, participants were grouped as those with lower internalized sexism, average internalized sexism, and higher internalized sexism. The following is the same vote choice question as above, this time segmented by levels of internalized sexism.
Moderate white women (n= 1,200)
| Low Internalized Sexism | Average Internalized Sexism | High Internalized Sexism | |
| Kamala Harris | 36% | 54% | 9% |
| Donald Trump | 8% | 54% | 38% |
| Another candidate | 34% | 56% | 9% |
| Not sure | 14% | 61% | 25% |
| Will not vote | 23% | 59% | 18% |
- Among moderate white women who planned to vote for Kamala Harris, 36% held lower-than-average levels of internalized sexism, 54% held average levels, and 9% held high levels.
- Among Donald Trump voters, just 8% held low levels of internalized sexism while 54% were average and 38% held higher-than-average levels of internalized sexism.
The table below is the same data grouped by levels of internalized sexism rather than by vote choice.
Moderate white women (n= 1,200)
| Kamala Harris | Donald Trump | Another candidate | Not sure | Will not vote | |
| Low Internalized Sexism | 63% | 20% | 5% | 6% | 7% |
| Average Internalized Sexism | 34% | 47% | 3% | 10% | 6% |
| High Internalized Sexism | 13% | 73% | 1% | 9% | 4% |
- Among moderate white women with low levels of internalized sexism, 63% intended to vote for Kamala Harris, while 20% intended to vote for Donald Trump. In contrast, among those with high levels of internalized sexism, 73% planned to vote for Donald Trump, compared to only 13% who supported Kamala Harris.
- For respondents who indicated they would vote for another candidate, are undecided, or did not plan to vote, there was a more balanced distribution across levels of internalized sexism.
VOTE CHOICE BY LEVEL OF RACIAL RESENTMENT
This survey also asked custom questions containing items from a racial resentment scale. Based on their responses, participants were grouped as those with lower racial resentment, average racial resentment, and higher racial resentment. The following is the same vote choice question as above, this time segmented by levels of racial resentment.
Moderate white women (n= 1,200)
| Low Racial Resentment | Average Racial Resentment | High Racial Resentment | |
| Kamala Harris | 43% | 48% | 9% |
| Donald Trump | 11% | 58% | 31% |
| Another candidate | 9% | 75% | 16% |
| Not sure | 23% | 57% | 19% |
| Will not vote | 27% | 55% | 18% |
- Among moderate white women who reported they would vote for Kamala Harris, 43% hold lower-than-average levels of racial resentment while 48% hold average levels and just 9% are high in racial resentment.
- Conversely, just 11% of those who planned to vote for Donald Trump hold low levels of racial resentment. 58% hold an average level of racial resentment, and 31% hold higher-than-average levels of racial resentment.
The table below is the same data grouped by levels of racial resentment rather than vote choice.
Moderate white women (n= 1,200)
| Kamala Harris | Donald Trump | Another candidate | Not sure | Will not vote | |
| Low Racial Resentment | 62% | 22% | 1% | 8% | 7% |
| Average Racial Resentment | 30% | 51% | 4% | 9% | 6% |
| High Racial Resentment | 15% | 70% | 2% | 8% | 5% |
- Among individuals with low levels of racial resentment, a majority (62%) planned to vote for Kamala Harris, while a smaller portion (22%) supported Donald Trump. Conversely, individuals with high levels of racial resentment were more likely to support Donald Trump, with 70% in this category planning to vote for him, compared to only 15% for Harris.
- For respondents who indicated they would vote for another candidate, were undecided, or did not plan to vote, there was a more balanced distribution across levels of racial resentment, with no particular level overwhelmingly dominant.
VOTE CHOICE BY INTERNALIZED SEXISM AND RACIAL RESENTMENT
- Moderate white women who are low in both internalized sexism and racial resentment are significantly more likely to report voting for Kamala Harris (89%) compared to Donald Trump (11%).
- Moderate white women who are high in both internalized sexism and racial resentment are significantly more likely to say they planned to vote for Donald Trump (88%) over Harris (12%).
KEY OPINION QUESTION #2
If Kamala Harris were to become the president of the United States, which of the following are you most concerned about?
- Not concerned
- She is unqualified
- She is untrustworthy
- Concerned about something else
- She was only chosen based on her gender
- She was only chosen based on her race
- She is aggressive
Moderate white women (n= 600)
| Not concerned | 31% |
| She is unqualified | 28% |
| She is untrustworthy | 17% |
| Concerned about something else | 13% |
| She was only chosen based on her gender | 7% |
| She was only chosen based on her race | 3% |
| She is aggressive | 2% |
TOPLINE TAKEAWAY
- While “not concerned” was the most frequent response among moderate white women (31%), a significant portion also viewed her as “unqualified” (28%) or “untrustworthy” (17%).
CONCERNS ABOUT HARRIS BY VOTE CHOICE
Moderate white women (n= 600)
| Kamala Harris | Donald Trump | |
| Not concerned | 68% | 5% |
| She is unqualified | 5% | 46% |
| She is untrustworthy | 3% | 29% |
| Concerned about something else | 17% | 7% |
| She was only chosen based on her gender | 3% | 8% |
| She was only chosen based on her race | 2% | 4% |
| She is aggressive | 2% | 2% |
TOPLINE TAKEAWAY
- Respondents who said they’d vote for Harris overwhelmingly indicated they are “not concerned” (68%), while those who planned to vote for Trump expressed significantly more concerns about Harris being “unqualified” (46%) or “untrustworthy” (29%).
CONCERNS ABOUT HARRIS BY LEVEL OF INTERNALIZED SEXISM
| Low Internalized Sexism | Average Internalized Sexism | High Internalized Sexism | |
| Not concerned | 54% | 31% | 13% |
| She is unqualified | 14% | 27% | 42% |
| She is untrustworthy | 9% | 17% | 23% |
| Concerned about something else | 18% | 15% | 4% |
| She was only chosen based on her gender | 2% | 6% | 12% |
| She was only chosen based on her race | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| She is aggressive | 1% | 2% | 3% |
CONCERNS ABOUT HARRIS BY LEVEL OF RACIAL RESENTMENT
| Low Racial Resentment | Average Racial Resentment | High Racial Resentment | |
| Not concerned | 49% | 29% | 14% |
| She is unqualified | 16% | 28% | 41% |
| She is untrustworthy | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Concerned about something else | 14% | 14% | 10% |
| She was only chosen based on her gender | 3% | 7% | 11% |
| She was only chosen based on her race | 2% | 2% | 5% |
| She is aggressive | 2% | 2% | 1% |
KEY OPINION QUESTION #3
Moderate white women were asked to select either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump to determine who better embodies the traits listed below.
If you had to say, who do you think is more…?
| Stable Qualified Cares about people like me Likable Strong leader Intelligent Honest | Competent Compassionate Better communicator Charismatic Authentic Uninformed Reckless Opportunistic | Insincere Ineffective Hypocritical Divisive Dishonest Corrupt Arrogant |
Moderate white women (n= 1,200)
| Kamala Harris | Donald Trump | |
| Stable | 57% | 43% |
| Qualified | 40% | 60% |
| Cares about people like me | 50% | 50% |
| Likable | 57% | 43% |
| Strong leader | 35% | 65% |
| Intelligent | 45% | 55% |
| Honest | 53% | 47% |
| Competent | 46% | 54% |
| Compassionate | 64% | 36% |
| Better communicator | 52% | 48% |
| Charismatic | 44% | 56% |
| Authentic | 46% | 54% |
| Uninformed | 58% | 42% |
| Reckless | 37% | 63% |
| Opportunistic | 41% | 59% |
| Insincere | 48% | 52% |
| Ineffective | 60% | 40% |
| Hypocritical | 45% | 55% |
| Divisive | 39% | 61% |
| Dishonest | 46% | 54% |
| Corrupt | 42% | 58% |
| Arrogant | 22% | 78% |
TOPLINE TAKEAWAYS
- Moderate white women reported viewing Harris as more compassionate (64% vs. 36%), likable (57% vs. 43%), and stable (57% vs. 43%).
- Conversely, they saw Trump as a strong leader (65% vs. 35%), qualified (60% vs. 40%), and charismatic (56% vs. 44%).
- For negative traits, Trump is more frequently associated with being arrogant (78% vs. 22%), reckless (63% vs. 37%), and divisive (61% vs. 39%), reflecting concerns about his temperament and behavior.
- Harris was seen as uninformed (58% vs. 42%) and ineffective (60% vs. 40%).
KEY OPINION QUESTION #4
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following, [Kamala Harris / Donald Trump / Barack Obama / George W. Bush] is…
| Charismatic Competent Honorable Intelligent Leader Passionate | Patriotic Presidential Respectful Good speaker Stands up for ordinary people Strong |
Moderate white women (n= 600)
Answers are ranked in order of how frequently they were selected.
| Kamala Harris | Donald Trump | Barack Obama | George W. Bush |
| Intelligent Passionate Respectful Good speaker Stands up for ordinary people | Strong Patriotic Leader Passionate Intelligent | Good speaker Intelligent Charismatic Presidential Competent | Patriotic Respectful Presidential Leader Honorable |
Appendix
INTERNALIZED SEXISM BY AGE
RACIAL RESENTMENT BY AGE
RACIAL RESENTMENT & INTERNALIZED SEXISM BY EDUCATION LEVEL
| Racial Resentment by Education Level | Internalized Sexism by Education Level |
 | |
VOTE CHOICE BY EDUCATION LEVEL
RACIAL RESENTMENT & INTERNALIZED SEXISM
- There is a moderate positive correlation (R = 0.52; see blue regression line) between racial resentment and internalized sexism.
COMBINED RACIAL RESENTMENT & INTERNALIZED SEXISM SCORE BY VOTE CHOICE
PREDICTIVE BINOMIAL MODEL: PROBABILITY OF VOTING FOR HARRIS BY INTERNALIZED SEXISM (IS) * RACIAL RESENTMENT (RR)
- As internalized sexism increases, the probability of voting for Kamala Harris decreases, particularly among those with higher levels of racial resentment.
- Individuals with low racial resentment are more likely to vote for Harris, even as internalized sexism increases, while those with high racial resentment have the lowest probability of supporting her.
PREDICTIVE BINOMIAL MODEL: PROBABILITY OF VOTING FOR HARRIS BY RACIAL RESENTMENT (RR) * INTERNALIZED SEXISM (IS)
- As racial resentment increases, the probability of voting for Kamala Harris decreases, with a stronger effect for those with higher levels of internalized sexism.
- Individuals with low internalized sexism are more likely to support Harris across levels of racial resentment, while those with high internalized sexism have the lowest probability of voting for her, particularly at higher levels of racial resentment.
METHODOLOGY
- Audience: Ideologically Moderate US White Women
- Sample size: 1,200
- Dates in field: Monday, October 28, 2024 to Monday, November 4, 2024
