Unfavorable attitudes towards women leaders. An instrument to assess them

• Main Authors: María Laura Lupano Perugini, Alejandro Castro Solano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Santo Tomás 2011-12-01
• Series: Summa Psicologica UST
• Subjects: liderazgo; actitudes; género
• Online Access: http://summapsicologica.cl/index.php/summa/article/view/84

<p>The main objective of the investigation consisted in designing a test to evaluate unfavorable attitudes towards women leaders. Based on Peters, Terborg and Taylor test –WAMS-, it was designed the instrument ACT-ML. This one contains 7 items and presents two dimensions, one evaluates the level that people consider if women display characteristics associate with leadership (Instrumental characteristics); and the other evaluates the level of acceptance of women like leaders (Acceptance Feminine Leadership). 789 subjects participated, 419 male (53,1%) and 370 female (46,9%) (Age average = 36,52; SD = 11,7). 45,8% (n = 361) of the participants occupied directive position and the 54,2% (n = 428) were subordinates. Results indicated good psychometric properties (reliability and validity). In addition, it was tried to verify the existence of significant differences according to sex and position (leader-subordinate), finding differences in favor of men and followers in a greater level of unfavorable attitudes to women leaders.</p>