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Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders: An empirical investigation

Scheurer, Elizabeth Coleman
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1385388045

Abstract Details

2005, Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, Psychology.
The present study directly tested the second form of prejudice posited by role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders (Eagly & Karau, 2002). This form of prejudice manifests in negative evaluations of actual leadership behaviors of women as compared with the equivalent behaviors in men. Two separate audio CD vignettes were created specifically for this study, based on identical scripts, each depicting a corporate executive during a telephone conversation with a subordinate. In one vignette, a male actor was featured as the target character; in the other a female was featured. Participants listened to one of the two vignettes and completed an interpersonal evaluation inventory designed to assess their perceptions of the target characters' likeability. Two additional items were added to this questionnaire, asking participants indicate their level of interest in having the target character as both a mentor and a boss. Participants also completed a questionnaire assessing modern sexist beliefs. Separate two-way ANOVA's were performed on each of the three hypotheses. It was hypothesized that male participants would evaluate the male executive more favorably than his female counterpart whereas female participants would evaluate the agentic female executive more favorably than the male executive. It was also predicted that participants of both sexes who endorse modern sexist beliefs would evaluate the female executive less favorably than the female executive. Results revealed a significant interaction effect between participant sex and sex of the stimulus person, with participants rating the same-sex executive as more likeable than the opposite-sex executive. A similar double-bias was found with respect to participants' preferences in a mentor. Contrary to prediction, no significant differences were found in likeability ratings of the male and female executive by participants endorsing modern sexist beliefs. The implications of the present findings are discussed in light of methodological considerations and suggestions for future research are given.
Cynthia L. Dulaney, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
David T. Hellkamp, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Christine M. Dacey, Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Member)
116 p.
Gender Studies; Occupational Psychology; Womens Studies
social sciences; psychology; womens studies; occupational psychology; gender studies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Scheurer, E. C. (2005). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders: An empirical investigation [Doctoral dissertation, Xavier University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1385388045

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Scheurer, Elizabeth. Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders: An empirical investigation. 2005. Xavier University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1385388045.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Scheurer, Elizabeth. "Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders: An empirical investigation." Doctoral dissertation, Xavier University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1385388045

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

xavier1385388045
1,127
© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Xavier University Psychology and OhioLINK.