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If “good managers” are masculine, what are “bad managers”?

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Abstract

Little research has been conducted on ineffective behavior or “bad” characteristics of managers as contrasted with effective behavior or “good” characteristics. This study examines the perceived characteristics of bad managers as well as good managers. In contrast to a stereotypical view of the good manager as masculine, bad managers were seen by business students as low in both masculinity and femininity, or in nonstereotypical terms. Results were not affected by the relative social desirability of masculine and feminine characteristics.

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This study was supported by a grant from the University of Connecticut Research Foundation. An earlier version of the article was presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Decision Sciences, New Orleans, November 1979.

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Powell, G.N., Butterfield, D.A. If “good managers” are masculine, what are “bad managers”?. Sex Roles 10, 477–484 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287256

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287256

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