Abstract
In this study, we examined the role of dispositional sexism in male service academy cadets' evaluations of military leadership potential for sexually dimorphic male and female faces, with a particular focus on the impact of hostile sexism. Male cadets (N = 224) rated eight pairs of masculinized and feminized faces on 14 characteristics relevant to Army leadership and completed a measure of hostile and benevolent sexism. We tested a 2 (sex of face: male, female) × 2 (gender of face: masculine, feminine) × 2 (type of sexism: hostile, benevolent) × 2 (level of sexism: low, high) mixed model ANOVA with the first two variables as within subjects and the last two variables as between subjects and using composite leadership potential ratings as the dependent variable. Results indicated a significant three-way interaction between sex of face, gender of face, and levels of hostile (but not benevolent) sexism, whereby participants with elevated levels of antipathy towards women reported the least positive perceptions of military leadership potential for women with masculine facial features. These findings underscore the importance of addressing hostile sexism in military training and leadership development programs to promote equality and inclusion.
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The datasets for this study are not publicly available because they belong to the United States Military Academy and cannot be released without authorization. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to the author at elizabeth.wetzler@westpoint.edu.
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Elizabeth Wetzler and Lisa Korenman conceptualized the study and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Stephen Rylander. Lisa Korenman conducted the data analyses. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Stephen Rylander. Subsequent drafts were written and edited by Elizabeth Wetzler and Lisa Korenman. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Wetzler, E.L., Korenman, L.M. & Rylander, S.R. Gender Bias in Perceptions of Military Leaders: Hostile Sexism Moderates Men’s Evaluations of Faces. Sex Roles 90, 552–564 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-024-01462-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-024-01462-5