Abstract
This study shows that women are unlikely to be seen as leaders. Subjects (n=448) rated each member of a five-person group (shown in a photograph) on leadership attributes and also chose one of the five as “contributing most to the group.” Eight different stimulus slides were used. In two slides the “head-of-the-table” cue to group leadership was pitted against sex-role stereotypes. A man seated at the head of the table in a mixed-sex group was clearly seen as leader of his group, but a woman occupying the same position was ignored. The head-of-the-table cue identified women as leaders only in all-female stimulus groups. The data were consistent with the hypotheses that sex stereotypes still control social judgments, and that discrimination operates nonconsciously and in spite of good intentions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartol, K. M. Male and female leaders of small groups. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Bureau of Economic and Business Research, 1973.
Bartol, K. M., & Wortman, M. S. Male versus female leaders: Effects on perceived leader behavior and satisfaction in a hospital. Personnel Psychology, 1975, 28, 533–548.
Bem, S. L. The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974 42, 155–162.
Bem, S. L., & Bem, D. J. Teaching the woman to know her place: The power of a nonconscious ideology. In M. H. Garskoff (Ed.), Roles women play, Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole, 1971.
Campbell, D. T. Stereotypes and the perception of group differences. American Psychologist, 1967, 22, 817–829.
Cohen, J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York: Academic Press, 1969.
Costrich, N., Feinstein, J., Maracek, J., & Pascale, L. When stereotypes hurt: Three studies of penalties for sex role reversals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1975, 11, 520–530.
Day, D. R., & Stogdill, R. M. Leader behavior of male and female supervisors. Personnel Psychology, 1972, 25, 353–360.
Dempewolff, J. A. Feminism and its correlates. Dissertation Abstracts International, 1973, 33.
Deaux, K. Self-evaluations of male and female managers. Sex Roles, 1979, 5, 571–580.
Deaux, K., & Taynor, J. Evaluation of male and female ability: Bias works two ways. Psychological Reports, 1973, 32, 261–262.
Faranda, J. Negative evaluation of female leaders. Paper presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Hartford, Conn., 1980.
Feather, N. T., & Simon, J. G. Reactions to male and female success and failure in sexlinked occupations: Impressions of personality, causal attributions, and perceived likelihood of difference consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 31, 20–31.
Filipe, N. Interpersonal distance and small group interaction. Cornell Journal of Social Relations, 1966, 1, 59–64.
Fidell, L. S. Empirical verification of sex discrimination in hiring practices in psychology. In R. K. Unger & F. L. Denmark (Eds.), Woman: Dependent or independent variable? New York: Psychological Dimensions, 1975.
Finn, J. D. Multivariance: Univariate and multivariate analysis of variance, covariance, regression and repeated measures. Version VI. Chicago: National Educational Resources, 1977.
Goldberg, P. Are women prejudiced against women? Trans-Action, April 1968, pp. 28–30.
Hagen, R. L., & Kahn, A. Discrimination against competent women. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1975, 5, 362–376.
Hare, A. P., & Bales, R. F. Seating position and small group interaction. Sociometry, 1963, 26, 480–486.
Harris, L. H., & Lucas, M. E. Sex-role stereotyping. Social Work, 1976, 21, 390–395.
Hollander, E. P. Leadership, innovation and influence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964.
Homans, G. C. The human group. New York: Harcourt, 1950.
Kelley, H. H. Causal schemata and the attribution process. In E. E. Jones, D. E. Kanouse, H. H. Kelley, R. E. Nisbett, S. Valins, & B. Weiner (Eds.), Attribution theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
Keppel, G. Design and analysis: A researcher's handbook. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973.
Kravetz, D. F. Sex-role concepts of women. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1976, 44, 437–443.
McKee, J. P., & Sheriffs, A. C. The differential evaluation of males and females. Journal of Personality, 1957, 25, 346–371.
Pellegrini, R. J. Some effects of seating position on social perception. Psychological Reports, 1971, 28, 887–893.
Rosen, B., & Jerdee, T. H. The influence of sex-role stereotypes on evaluations of male and female supervisory behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1973, 57, 44–48.
Rosen, B., & Jerdee, T. H. Influence of sex-role stereotypes on personnel decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1974, 39, 9–14.
Rosenkrantz, P., Vogel, S., Bee, H., Broverman, I., & Broverman, D. Sex-role stereotypes and self concept in college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1968, 32, 287–295.
Schein, V. E. The relationship between sex-role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1973, 57, 95–100.
Siegfried, B. A., & Hendrick, C. When do opposites attract? When they are opposite in sex and sex-role attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1973, 25, 15–20.
Siegler, D. M., & Siegler, R. S. Stereotypes of males' and females' speech. Psychological Reports, 1976, 39, 167–170.
Snyder, M., & Swann, W. B., Jr. When actions reflect attitudes: The politics of impressions management. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 34, 1034–1042.
Sommer, R. Studes in personal space. Sociometry, 1959, 22, 247–260.
Stearns, A. Sex bias in psychotherapy: An analogue study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, 1978.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors are indebted to Marcia Halperin who read an early draft of this report and contributed substantially to the organization and exposition of the present version.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Porter, N., Geis, F.L. & Jennings (Walstedt), J. Are women invisible as leaders?. Sex Roles 9, 1035–1049 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289420
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289420