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Gender and Job Role Congruence: A Field Study of Trust in Labor Mediators

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Abstract

The extent to which individuals are seen as fulfilling their social roles is related to the extent they are seen as successful in that role. Using social role theory, the congruence of job roles and gender roles was examined among labor mediators, a profession requiring both agentic and communal characteristics. A total of 362 employees and employers involved in a workplace dispute that went to governmental mediation were recruited in Quebec, Canada. Regression analyses assessed how impartiality and empathy contributed to parties’ trust in their mediators for male and female mediators. Comparisons of regression structures suggest that perceptions of gender incongruent job characteristics were better predictors of trust in the mediator than gender congruent characteristics. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

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Acknowledgement

This study received financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The data was collected in collaboration with the Commission des normes du travail du Québec (CNT). The authors would like to thank Diane Beaudoin, Jean-Marc Gauthier, Daniel Langevin, Danielle Laliberté, Guy Laroche and Jocelyn Girard of the CNT for their contribution to data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 N. Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA

    Alice F. Stuhlmacher

  2. HEC Montréal, 3000, chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, Québec, H3T 2A7, Canada

    Jean Poitras

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  1. Alice F. Stuhlmacher
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Correspondence to Alice F. Stuhlmacher.

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Stuhlmacher, A.F., Poitras, J. Gender and Job Role Congruence: A Field Study of Trust in Labor Mediators. Sex Roles 63, 489–499 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9844-9

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