Are leader stereotypes masculine? A meta-analysis of three research paradigms.

2011/05/31 by Anne M. Koenig, Alice H. Eagly, Abigail A. Mitchell +1 · 30 citations
Social Sciences · #Gender Diversity and Inequality #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Gender Roles and Identity Studies

paper · doi:10.1037/a0023557

Abstract

This meta-analysis examined the extent to which stereotypes of leaders are culturally masculine. The primary studies fit into 1 of 3 paradigms: (a) In Schein's (1973) think manager-think male paradigm, 40 studies with 51 effect sizes compared the similarity of male and leader stereotypes and the similarity of female and leader stereotypes; (b) in Powell and Butterfield's (1979) agency-communion paradigm, 22 studies with 47 effect sizes compared stereotypes of leaders' agency and communion; and (c) in Shinar's (1975) masculinity-femininity paradigm, 7 studies with 101 effect sizes represented stereotypes of leadership-related occupations on a single masculinity-femininity dimension. Analyses implemented appropriate random and mixed effects models. All 3 paradigms demonstrated overall masculinity of leader stereotypes: (a) In the think manager-think male paradigm, intraclass correlation = .25 for the women-leaders similarity and intraclass correlation = .62 for the men-leaders similarity; (b) in the agency-communion paradigm, g = 1.55, indicating greater agency than communion; and (c) in the masculinity-femininity paradigm, g = 0.92, indicating greater masculinity than the androgynous scale midpoint. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses indicated that this masculine construal of leadership has decreased over time and was greater for male than female research participants. In addition, stereotypes portrayed leaders as less masculine in educational organizations than in other domains and in moderate- than in high-status leader roles. This article considers the relation of these findings to Eagly and Karau's (2002) role congruity theory, which proposed contextual influences on the incongruity between stereotypes of women and leaders. The implications for prejudice against women leaders are also considered.

Citations

• Intersectionality and research in psychology.
• Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders.

Cited by

• Goodbye, Gender Stereotypes? Trait Attributions to Politicians in 11 Years of News Coverage
• The Gendered Risks of Violating Expectations and the Importance of Information for Women Candidates
• Studying gender stereotypes of political candidates over four decades
• Nevertheless, Role Models Persisted: Girls Exposed To Women Politicians More Likely To Vote as Adults
• Thriving at Work: How a Paradox Mindset Influences Innovative Work Behavior
• Closing the Gender Gap in Internal Political Efficacy? Gender Roles and the Masculine Ethos of Politics in Spain
• Gendered Jobs and Local Leaders
• Diversity Incentives Can Increase Women’s Aspirations to Lead
• Competent and influential: how do voters evaluate women prime ministers?
• Women in the Global Super Rich. An Analysis of the Forbes World’s Billionaires List, 2010–2023
• Looks Like a Leader: Measuring Evolution in Gendered Politician Stereotypes
• The Application of Social Role Theory to the Study of Gender in Politics
• Cometh the hour, cometh the woman: Jacinda Ardern’s crisis leadership and issues of gender
• A ‘Presidential Look’? An Analysis of Gender Framing in 2016 Persuasive Memes of Hillary Clinton
• Inclusive leadership: Realizing positive outcomes through belongingness and being valued for uniqueness
• We see symbols but not saviors: Women's representation and the political attitudes of working‐class women
• Gender, perceptions of benefits and costs, and negative campaigning. Evidence from German candidate surveys
• Stereotypes and biases in recruiting PhD holders: a professional profile experiment
• Candidate Evaluations Through the Lens of Adaptive Followership Psychology: How and Why Voters Prefer Leaders Based on Character Traits
• When women emerge as leaders: Effects of extraversion and gender composition in groups
• The structure and experience of interim roles in academic health sciences libraries
• Who makes AI? Gender and portrayals of AI scientists in popular film, 1920–2020
• ‘If they can lead, I can too’: supervisors, social comparisons and women’s leadership aspiration / <i>‘Si ellos pueden liderar’, yo también: superiores, comparación social y aspiración de liderazgo de las mujeres</i>
• Anti-LGB Language
• Women and leadership: the approbation of women bosses by women subordinates
• Gender on the mind? Gender heuristics and rationalizations in candidate evaluations
• Gay and Straight Men Prefer Masculine-Presenting Gay Men for a High-Status Role: Evidence From an Ecologically Valid Experiment
• The bases of propriety: instrumental, relational, moral, and collective
• Pink and Blue Pixel: Gender and Economic Disparity in Two Massive Online Games
• Visual Information and Candidate Evaluations: The Influence of Feminine and Masculine Images on Support for Female Candidates

Related

• Gender and perceptions of leadership effectiveness: A meta-analysis of contextual moderators.
• ‘Who’ Makes a ‘Good’ Leader? Examining the Influence of Leader Gender with Perceptions of Leader Competency and Employee Outcomes
• Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders.
• Don't rock the boat! Do men prefer women leaders who support the status quo?
• Gender Bias in Leader Evaluations