The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

242 Chapter 7

gender-role stereotypes or category-based

expectancies in the absence of other infor-

mation about people. But once we obtain

more information, we are likely to use that

information when deciding how to behave.

Leadership Styles

Do men and women have different styles of

leadership? According to social role theory,

women and men should behave similarly when

occupying similar roles. However, because

gender roles may still be operating on the part

of the leader as well as on the part of perceivers,

men’s and women’s behavior is likely to differ

when they take on the leadership role (Eagly &

Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). For women, there

is a conflict between the characteristics of the

leadership role and the female gender role.

Leadership styles have been grouped

into three broad categories: transformational,

transactional, and laissez-faire. A transforma-

tional style involves inspiration, motivation,

and being a role model. A transactional style

of leadership is a more conventional style that

involves monitoring subordinates, reward-

ing behavior, and intervening. Descriptors

of the two are shown in Table 7.4 (Powell &

Graves, 2006). A meta-analysis of these three

leadership styles showed that women had a

more transformational style than men (d=

• .10; Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & van En-
  gen, 2003). Women also were more likely than
  men to display the contingent reward aspect
  of the transactional style (d=-.13), whereas
  men were more likely to display the two other
  components of the transactional style—active
  management by exception (d=+.12) and pas-
  sive management by exception (d=+.27).
  Men also were more likely to use laissez-faire
  leadership than women (d=+.16). A second
  meta-analysis revealed similar results (van
  Engen & Willemsen, 2004). That meta-analysis
  showed that the sex difference in the transfor-
  mational style is larger in more recent than in
  older studies. Interestingly, studies authored
  by males (compared to females) were more
  likely to show that women had a transactional
  style of leadership. The use of a transforma-
  tional style of leadership should help women
  overcome some of the gender-related barri-
  ers to leadership because this style combines
  masculine and feminine behavior. Thus, it is
  no surprise that when gender-role character-
  istics are examined, the androgynous person
  is most likely to use a transformational style of
  leadership (Ayman & Korabik, 2010).

TABLE 7.4 CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP STYLES

Transformational

• charismatic—provide role model


• inspiring—display optimism and excitement about mission


• intellectually stimulating—encourage new perspectives


• mentoring—provide individualized attention
  Transactional


• contingent reward—reward for achieving goals


• management by exception—intervening to correct problem


• active management by exception—monitor performance


• passive management by exception—wait for someone to report problem

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