Study reveals mismatch in gender stereotypes and leader preferences

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A new study published in Evolution and Human Behavior reveals a surprising disconnect between leader stereotypes and leader preferences. While people often imagine leaders as men, especially dominant ones, they tend to slightly prefer female leaders, particularly those who are prestigious rather than dominant.

Despite progress toward gender equality, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions. In 2021, women made up only 7.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs, 26.9% of U.S. congressional representatives, and 30.3% of elected state executives. This underrepresentation prompted researchers to investigate the underlying causes.

A prevailing explanation is the stereotype associating leadership with male and dominant traits, known as the “think manager-think male” phenomenon. This suggests that people associate leadership with masculinity, which could influence preferences and affect leader selection. The researchers aimed to examine whether these stereotypes still hold true and if they translate into actual preferences for leaders based on gender and dominance versus prestige.

“I’ve been interested in gender and leadership for several years, starting in my undergraduate studies in political science and later during my Ph.D. in social psychology,” said study author Adi Wiezel, an assistant professor of psychology at Elon University.

The researchers conducted five studies to investigate how leader stereotypes influence preferences for male or female leaders.

In the first study, 148 undergraduate students from Arizona State University imagined leaders with either dominant or prestigious traits and indicated the gender of these leaders. They also rated their willingness to work for each imagined leader. The results showed that participants predominantly imagined leaders as men, with 89.9% envisioning a dominant leader as a man and 62.8% imagining a prestigious leader as a man. However, participants slightly preferred female leaders overall and expressed a stronger preference for prestigious leaders (average rating of 4.32 out of 5) over dominant leaders (average rating of 2.34 out of 5).

Another study involved 220 undergraduates imagining leaders in specific domains like military, sports, business, politics, science, and the arts. Participants were more likely to imagine leaders as men across all domains but preferred prestigious leaders over dominant ones, regardless of gender.

In Study 2, the researchers analyzed data from a Pew Research Center survey of 2,692 participants, which found a move toward gender neutrality in leadership perceptions. Among those with a preference, more favored women (24.6%) over men (11.3%).

Study 3, involving 461 undergraduates, reinforced these findings by showing a strong preference for prestigious leaders, with a slight preference for female leaders described as prestigious.

Finally, Study 4 involved 952 participants evaluating photographs of male and female politicians, rating them on traits related to dominance and prestige, and indicating their likelihood of voting for these politicians.

Re-reported from the article originally published in Psypost.