The Impact of a Leader Model on High Dominant Women’s Self-Selection for Leadership

Abstract

The present study examined how the gender of a leader model affected high dominant women's decisions to become leaders when instructed to complete a masculine-typed task and paired with a man. One hundred ninety undergraduates at a university in the southeastern United States were paired according to Dominance scores and shown the task, which required a leader and a follower. Pairs were presented with either a female or male leader model. Independent observers recorded who became the leader. Results suggest that when high dominant women are presented with a female leader model, they are more likely to take on the leadership role in the presence of a male partner than when they are presented with a male leader model.

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“…Research on gender role indicates that individuals who identify strongly with either gender role are likely to engage in behaviour that is consistent with that role, regardless of their sex (Bem and Lewis, 1975; Bem et al, 1976), and that individuals will often refrain from engaging in certain behaviours if they are inconsistent with the social expectations of the individual’s sex (Carbonell, 1984; Carbonell and Castro, 2008). Thus, to the extent that antisocial behaviour and somatization are described in traditionally or stereotypically gendered terms (e.g.…”

Who Gets Promoted to the Top? Nuanced Personality and Psychosocial Trait Differences in Highly Structured Work Environments: Evidence From German Professional Female Athletes

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