Summary: | 碩士 === 中原大學 === 心理學研究所 === 103 === Differences in male and female gender-role expectations are so salient that the same leadership role played by male and female leaders may be perceived very differently. To clarify the inconsistent predictions and findings in the prior literature, this study employed a mixed-design scenario experiment to examine effects of favorable violation of gender-role expectations in the leadership context. A hundred and twenty college students participated in this study to read various descriptions of leader behavior (i.e., behavior that favorably violates female gender roles, male gender roles, or is neutral to gender roles) demonstrated by either male or female leaders. Consistent with my predictions, results showed that male leaders displaying behavior that favorably violates their gender roles were liked most and elicit highest levels of positive evaluation. However, I did not find similar results for female leaders; female leaders adopting leadership behavior neutral to gender roles, rather than that favorably violates their gender roles, were liked most and received more positive evaluation. Results above suggest that gender and leadership roles do interact with each other to affect subordinates’ perceptions. Contributions, limitations, suggestions for future studies, and managerial implications of this study were then discussed.
|