Abstract
Some authors assert that there is a feminine advantage in leadership, even though female leaders are often targets of prejudice. Our experiment tested how people’s expectations affect this prejudice in different work environments. Participants evaluated a male or a female candidate for a leadership position in an industry that was congruent or incongruent with the candidate’s gender role. Participants showed prejudice against the female candidate, especially when she worked in an industry incongruent with her gender role. Female and older participants showed more prejudice against the female leader than did male and younger participants. These results invoke role congruity theory (Eagly & Karau, Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109, 573–598, 2002).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, M. (1994). Male–female power differences at work: A comparison of supervisors and policymakers. Sociological Inquiry, 64, 37–55.
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free.
Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155–162.
Booth, A. L., Francesconi, M., & Frank, J. (2003). A sticky floors model of promotion, pay, and gender. European Economic Review, 47, 295–322.
Burgess, D., & Borgida, E. (1999). Who women are, who women should be: Descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotyping in sex discrimination. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 5, 665–692.
Carli, L. L. (2001). Gender and social influence. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 725–741.
Cejka, M. A., & Eagly, A. H. (1999). Gender stereotypic images of occupations correspond to the sex segregation of employment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 413–423.
Corporate Women Directors International (2002). Women board directors of Spain’s 300 top companies. Retrieved September 9, 2005 from http://www.globewomen.com/cwdi/country_rep/spain_report.htm.
Deaux, K. (1984). From individual differences to social categories: Analysis of a decade’s research on gender. American Psychologist, 39, 105–116.
Diekman, A. B., & Eagly, A. H. (2000). Stereotypes as dynamic constructs: Women and men of the past, present, and future. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1171–1188.
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Eagly, A. H. (2004). Few women at the top: How role incongruity produces prejudice and the glass ceiling. In D. van Knippenberg & M. A. Hogg (Eds.), Identity, leadership, and power (pp. 79–93). London: Sage.
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2003). The female leadership advantage: An evaluation of the evidence. Leadership Quarterly, 14, 807–834.
Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & van Engen, M. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire: A meta-analysis comparing men and women. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 569–591.
Eagly, A. H., & Johnson, B. T. (1990). Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 233–256.
Eagly, A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109, 573–598.
Eagly, A. H., Karau, S. J., & Makhijani, M. G. (1995). Gender and the effectiveness of leaders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 125–145.
Eagly, A. H., Wood, W., & Diekman, A. B. (2000). Social role theory of sex differences and similarities: A current appraisal. In T. Eckes & H. M. Trautmer (Eds.), The developmental social psychology of gender (pp. 123–174). Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Garcia-Retamero, R. (2006). Identidad de género y nivel de aspiraciones profesionales en alumnos universitarios. Revista Mexicana de Psicología. (in press).
Garcia-Retamero, R., & López-Zafra, E. (2002). Percepción y evaluación de la mujer en liderazgo como explicación de la discriminación de la mujer en puestos de dirección. Revista de Psicología Social Aplicada, 12, 21–52.
Garcia-Retamero, R., & López-Zafra, R. (2006). Congruencia de rol de género y liderazgo: El papel de las atribuciones causales sobre el éxito y el fracaso. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 38, 245–257.
Goldberg, P. (1968). Are women prejudiced against women? Transaction, 5, 316–322.
Heilman, M. E. (2001). Description and prescription: How gender stereotypes prevent women’s ascent up the organizational ladder. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 657–674.
Hopcroft, R. (1996). The authority attainment of women: Competitive sector effects. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 55, 163–184.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) (2001). Encuesta de población activa por actividades en España. Retrieved September 9, 2005 from www.ine.es/inebase/cgi/axi.
Jacobs, J. A. (1999). The sex segregation of occupations: Prospects for the 21st century. In G. N. Powell (Ed.), Handbook of gender and work (pp. 125–144). London: Sage.
Koch, S. C. (2004). Constructing gender: A lens-model inspired gender communication approach. Sex Roles, 51, 171–186.
López-Sáez, M. (1994). Procesos culturales e individuales implicados en la estereotipia de género: Una aproximación empírica a la elección de carreta. Revista de Psicología Social, 9, 213–230.
López-Zafra, E. (1998). Liderazgo carismático: Un intento de validación convergente al M.L.Q. (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire). Revista de Psicología Social, 13, 211–216.
López-Zafra, E. (1999). Liderazgo femenino: Nuevas pautas para un nuevo milenio. In M. A. Bel (Ed.), Ecofeminismo: Un reencuentro con la naturaleza (pp. 43–61). España: Servicio de publicaciones de la Universidad de Jaén.
López-Zafra, E., & Del Olmo, S. M. (1999). Estereotipia de género y liderazgo transformacional en contextos de trabajo típicamente femeninos. Revista de Psicología Social Aplicada, 9, 53–71.
López-Zafra, E., & López-Sáez, M. (2001). Por qué las mujeres se consideran más o menos femeninas y los hombres más o menos masculinos? Explicaciones sobre su autoconcepto de identidad de género. Revista de Psicología Social, 16, 193–208.
Nicolson, P. (1997). Poder, género y organizaciones: ¿Se valora a la mujer en la empresa? Madrid: Narcea.
Powell, G. N. (1999). Examining the intersection of gender and work. In G. N. Powell (Ed.), Handbook of gender and work (pp. ix–xx). London: Sage.
Powell, G. N., Butterfield, D. A., & Parent, J. D. (2002). Gender and managerial stereotypes: Have the times changed? Journal of Management, 28, 177–193.
Rudman, L. A., & Kilianski, S. E. (2000). Implicit and explicit attitudes toward female authority. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1315–1328.
Schein, V. E. (2001). A global look at psychological barriers to women’s progress in management. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 675–688.
Swim, J. K., & Sanna, L. J. (1996). He’s skilled, she’s lucky: A meta-analysis of observers’ attributions for women’s and men’s successes and failures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 507–522.
Taylor, L., Newman, S., Mangis, C., Swiander, M., Garibaldi, C., Ismael, A., et al. (1993). Gender and attribution: A reversal of bias? Journal of Social Psychology, 133, 575–582.
Top, T. J. (1991). Sex bias in the evaluation of performance in the scientific, artistic, and literary professions: A review. Sex Roles, 24, 73–106.
United Nations Development Programme (2004). Human development report 2004: Cultural liberty in today’s diverse world. New York: Oxford University Press.
van Engen, M. L., van der Leeden, R., & Willemsen, T. M. (2001). Gender, context, and leadership style: A field study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74, 581–598.
Wolf, W. C., & Fligstein, N. (1979). Sex and authority in the workplace: The causes of sexual inequality. American Sociological Review, 44, 235–252.
Acknowledgments
We are deeply indebted to Alice H. Eagly for her helpful discussion of the results and comments on previous drafts of this article. We also thank her for her intellectual encouragement. We gratefully acknowledge two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and Anita Todd and Donna Alexander for editing the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Garcia-Retamero, R., López-Zafra, E. Prejudice against Women in Male-congenial Environments: Perceptions of Gender Role Congruity in Leadership. Sex Roles 55, 51–61 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9068-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9068-1