Role-Model-In-Chief: Understanding a Michelle Obama Effect Christina S. Haynes The University of Kentucky Ray Block Jr. The University of Kentucky 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 Obama, role models, race, gender, media exposure, policy preference, public opinion, moderated mediation analysis “I hope that Sojourner Truth would be proud to see me, a descendant of slaves, serving as the first lady of the United States of America.” — Michelle Obama, at an unveiling of a bust of Sojourner Truth in Emancipation Hall, quoted in Huffington Post (April 2009). “This is a big responsibility, a wonderful platform and I just want ... to serve as a role model, to provide good messages, to be a supportive mate to the president, and to make sure that my girls are solid.” — Michelle Obama, Essence Magazine (May 2009). Published by Cambridge University Press 1743-923X/19 $30.00 for The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association. # The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association, 2019 doi:10.1017/S1743923X18000533 Politics & Gender, 15 (2019), 365–402. of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X18000533 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 54.70.40.11, on 16 Sep 2019 at 07:35:07, subject to the Cambridge Core terms