1. Industrial-Organizational Psychology Learning Module Leadership and Gender Stereotypes
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

2. Lesson Objectives At the end of this lecture you should:
Understand the leadership perceptions approach
Understand how gender stereotyping in organizations affects perceptions of leaders
Know some of the methods used to control stereotyping in organizations
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

3. Leadership Perceptions
Leadership is hard to define
but we know it when we see it!
Leadership Perceptions Approach
people must first be recognized as leaders.
then they are allowed to influence followers.
followers determine the ultimate success of leaders.
Numerous perspectives have been used in research on leadership. Some I/O psychologists have taken a trait-based approach to leadership. This approach states that leaders have certain personality attributes that their followers do not. For instance, leaders may be described as assertive, confident, tactful, or persuasive.
Another approach addresses the behaviors of leaders. The two most prominent behavior categories are initiating structure and consideration. Initiating structure refers to the task-oriented behaviors such as organizing and structuring work for followers. Consideration refers to the ways leaders show concern for followers.
Another approach sees leadership as situation-specific. Situational leadership theory states that the balance of initiating structure vs. consideration behaviors in which a leader must engage depends on the emotional maturity and expertise of the followers.
Cognitive approaches to leadership build on how workers perceive situations. One such approach defines leadership as the process of being seen as a leader (Lord & Maher, 1991). This is quite different from traditional approaches but acknowledges the difficulties in trying to completely capture a leadership definition in words. Leadership is incompletely and inadequately defined in words, but we know it when we see it. It is primarily a socio-perceptual process.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

4. General Model of Leadership Perceptions
Leader behavior determines follower perceptions, which are associated with positive or negative outcomes.
Outcomes such as success can also serve to shape follower perceptions.
General Model:
The general model of leadership perceptions proposes that leader behavior is interpreted and labeled by followers; if the behavior matches the follower's leadership prototype, the label of leader is applied to this person.
For instance, an employee may view a leader as someone who takes charge of a situation and defines for the group how work should be done. Someone from the group who takes charge and structures the task at hand is likely to be perceived by this employee as a leader. Subsequent behavior by this emergent leader is likely to reinforce perceptions of leadership.
Being seen as a leader is important; influence is granted by followers who perceive another as a leader. This influence should enhance attainment of outcomes. Attainment of outcomes, in a reciprocal fashion, also affects follower perceptions. Being associated with positive (or negative) outcomes affects how strongly a person is seen as a leader.
Individual,
Group, and
Organizational
Outcomes
Leader
Behavior
Follower
Perceptions
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

5. Gender and Leadership Perceptions
Individual,
Group, and
Organizational
Outcomes
Leader
Behavior
Follower
Perceptions
Identical behavior from men and women is interpreted differently.
Perceivers attach different labels to the same behaviors enacted by men and women.
One reason is because of gender stereotypes.
The leadership perceptions approach also helps to explain why it is sometimes difficult for people to accept women as leaders in the workplace. The traits often attached to effective leadership are “masculine” qualities such as courage, persuasiveness, and assertiveness. As such, an aggressive male leader will be viewed as ambitious, while an aggressive female leader may be viewed as pushy. These perceptions are grounded in the gender stereotypes that have developed over time.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

6. Gender Stereotypes and Leadership Perceptions
Stereotypes are expectations about members of certain groups.
Gender-based stereotypes include beliefs about:
expected interpersonal behavior
the types of roles or jobs best suited for men and women.
The role of gender stereotypes in employment was at issue in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins.
The basic message in this and the following slide is that the same behavior enacted by men and women is interpreted differently by followers. Follower perceptions depend or are contingent on the leader’s gender. For example, an assertive and competitive man is likely to be seen as leader-like, whereas the same behavior on the part of a woman is likely to result in the label of "bitch." This is because gender stereotypes provide certain expectations of male and female behavior. When those expectations are violated (as in the case of a women acting assertively), it results in dislike and a negative label being applied to describe her. This phenomenon was at issue in the Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins case.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

7. Gender Stereotypes and Leadership Perceptions
Ann B. Hopkins was a high-performing, but masculine acting, prospective partner at PW.
Hopkins alleged she was denied partnership because of her gender.
PW countered that Hopkins had interpersonal problems (e.g., she was "macho").
Court eventually ruled that gender-based stereotyping influenced perceptions of her behavior.
Because she was a woman in a nontraditional role, Hopkins' behavior was seen as more extreme than men who behaved similarly.
Ann B. Hopkins was denied a partnership at Price Waterhouse; gender stereotyping played a role in this decision (Fiske et al., 1991).
In Hopkins v. Price Waterhouse, (1987), Ann Hopkins was being considered for partner at Price Waterhouse, where she was a senior manager in charge of large government computer contracts. At the time of her consideration, Hopkins was the only woman among eighty-eight candidates nominated for partnership. Her close colleagues submitted an evaluation noting her "outstanding performance" and strongly urged her admission to the partnership. When she was not accepted as a partner by the promotion board, the person responsible for explaining the board’s decision to her advised Hopkins that in order to improve her chances for partnership she should "walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry." In addition, another board member "repeatedly commented that he could not consider any woman seriously as a partnership candidate and believed that women were not even capable of functioning" as partners. Hopkins brought her gender discrimination lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court and won.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

8. Controlling our Stereotyping
Everyone (or nearly everyone) engages in stereotyping.
Most recognize it is inappropriate to judge others based on a stereotype.
How can we learn to control our stereotyping?
One way is through conscious control.
Everyone uses stereotypes, yet we are often unaware that we are using them. Stereotypes are a cognitive device used to simplify the world. They are difficult to control because we are cognitive misers who prefer to use as few cognitive resources (i.e., attention or “ brain power”) as possible to understand something. The use of the representativeness heuristic (judging the likelihood of something by how well it represents some prototype) may also lead one to ignore relevant information.
Using such cognitive shortcuts becomes a problem when the generalizations or simplifications are inaccurately applied or important information is ignored. It is necessary to engage in conscious control of gender stereotypes because many of them are inaccurate and are often engaged rather automatically.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

9. How do I/O psychologists help organizations control stereotyping?
Identifying organizational consequences that gender and race stereotyping have
Training employees to gather individuating information about the stereotyped person
getting to know the person as an individual
understanding benefits of diversity
Training employers to effectively manage diversity
Helping to minimize the effects of stereotyping and unfair treatment of employees
The best ways to attempt to control stereotyping are through conscious control (i.e., recognizing that stereotypes are inappropriate) and having individual contact with those who we might stereotype based on gender or race. This is an important area of research and practice in I/O psychology in helping to minimize the effects of stereotyping and unfair treatment of employees. This is one of the reasons behind increased attention on managing diversity in organizations.
Managing diversity goes beyond hiring more diverse employees. Some researchers go as far as to distinguish between “hiring diversity” and managing diversity. Managing diversity in organizations entails maintaining an atmosphere where people with different perspectives (for whatever reason) are allowed to speak and act freely. Sometimes this requires training focusing on the sources of this diversity (cultural, racial, gender, age-related, etc.) and why people who are different should not be viewed as deficient. This explanation merely scratches the surface. For more information, see the module on Workplace Diversity in this guide and the references suggested there.
Time permitting, a brief discussion might be held as to what students think “managing diversity” means and how it might be accomplished in organizations.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998 5

10. Sharing Perceptions How would you describe each of these leaders?
Was either of them more bossy or dominating?
Which of the leaders had greater skill, ability, or intelligence?
Did they both fit your image of a leader? Why or why not?
The scripted exercise has two students (1 male and 1 female) engaged in a brief interaction whereby each tries to influence the other. Research indicates that the female leader will be described differently in terms of her personality, and may experience more covert bias than the male leader (Butler & Geis, 1990). Although evidence of widespread overt bias in terms of differences in performance ratings and decisions about promotions may be declining, women leaders still face obstacles associated with covert resistance to their influence attempts.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998

11. Sharing Perceptions (cont.)
Previous research indicates that the same behavior by men and women leaders results in different perceptions.
Women are seen as more bossy and dominating.
Men are seen as having greater ability, skill, and intelligence.
Gender stereotypes influence our reactions, even without our awareness.
Prepared by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology - SIOP © 1998