ERIC Number: EJ951921
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Mar
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-6843
EISSN: N/A
Female Leaders: Injurious or Inspiring Role Models for Women?
Hoyt, Crystal L.; Simon, Stefanie
Psychology of Women Quarterly, v35 n1 p143-157 Mar 2011
The impact of female role models on women's leadership aspirations and self-perceptions after a leadership task were assessed across two laboratory studies. These studies tested the prediction that upward social comparisons to high-level female leaders will have a relatively detrimental impact on women's self-perceptions and leadership aspirations compared to male and less elite female leaders. In Study 1 (N = 60), women were presented with both female and male leaders before serving as leaders of ostensible three-person groups in an immersive virtual environment. This study established the relatively deflating impact of high-level female leaders, compared to high-level male leaders and the control condition, on participants' self-perceptions. Using a similar methodology, Study 2 (N = 57) further demonstrated that the impact of elite female leaders on participants' self-perceptions in turn adversely affected their leadership aspirations. This study also showed more positive responses to nonelite female leaders with whom participants more strongly identify and who increase counterstereotypic thinking. Taken together, these studies point to a potential dark side of elite female leaders as role models in a domain where individuals are possible targets of a negative stereotype. However, they also point to the relatively more beneficial impact of female role models who disconfirm the negative stereotype. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Role Models, Stereotypes, Females, Sex Role, Gender Issues, Women Administrators, Occupational Aspiration, Self Concept, Gender Differences, Males, Leadership, Undergraduate Students, Leadership Responsibility
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A