Genderized Leadership:
Gender and Social Influence
Psychological research shows that
effective leadership is dependent
upon gender
Historically
 Gender

difference in influenceability
The extent to which men and women are
influenced by others
 Effect
of a person’s gender on their ability
to influence others
Effective management
 Career achievement
 Increases in salary

What are little boys made of?
 Frogs
 Snails
 Puppy
dog tails
What are little girls made of?
 Sugar
 Spice
 Everything
nice
Gender Differences in Exerting
Influence
 Mixed-sex
groups
Men exert more influence
 Boys exert more influence
 Attempts by girls or women are more likely to
be ignored
 Contributions by men

 Receive
more attention from other group members
 Have a greater effect on group decisions
Gender Composition Effects: Gender
of recipient of influence attempts
 Expectation

states theory
Gender effects depend on the salience of
gender as a status characteristic
 Males
are more persuaded by males
Adults
 Jr. Highers
 Toddlers
 Preschoolers
 2-6 year old children

Gender Composition Effects: Proportion
of males and females in an interaction
 Why
is there a disadvantage for females
when they are the minority?
Highlights gender stereotypes
 Elicits greater gender-stereotypical behavior

 Task
Contribution
Individual male contribution increases as
males in the group decrease
 Individual female contribution decreases as
females in the group decrease

Communication Style used by
Influence Agent: Competence
 Supporting
opinions with evidence
Women that do are more influential than
women that do not
 Men’s influence is relatively high without
evidence

 Both
genders equally benefit:
Speaking in a clear, fluent, and competent
manner
 When they have an unusual expertise on the
topic of persuasion

Communication Style used by
Influence Agent: Competence
 Possessing
important and unique
information
Increased males influence
 Decreased females influence

 Competent
direct displays
Interfere with women’s influence
 Women greater influence with an indirect style

 Males
are more threatened by and less
inclined to like a competent woman
Communication Style used by
Influence Agent: Dominance
 Controlling
 Threatening
 Forceful
 Agonistic
 Direct
disagreement
 Verbal/non-verbal cues of aggression
Interruptions
 Speaking in a loud voice
 Pointing at others
 Having a stern expression

Communication Style used by
Influence Agent: Dominance
 Face-to-face
discussions of gender neutral
topics:

Direct disagreement by women produces
overt hostility or tension
 Non-verbal

dominance
More acceptable in men than women
 Teachers
of young children
Ignore negative influence attempts by girls
 Attend to negative assertions of boys

Communication Style used by Influence
Agent: Warmth and Communality
 Stereotype
of female warmth has become
prescriptive
Better receptiveness when women are warm and
communal
 Self-promotion decreases influence

 Behaviors
that increase influence for women:
Smiling
 Expressing agreement
 Showing support for others
 Stating that one is motivated to help others

Communication Style used by Influence
Agent: Warmth and Communality
 Male
resistance is tempered when women
combine competence with warmth
Using rapid, unhesitating and clear language
COMBINED WITH
 Cues for warmth: smiling, nodding, agreeing

 Men
can influence others without being liked
 Women must be likeable to be influential
Communication Style used by Influence
Agent: Gender Bias of Task
 Males
are generally presumed more
competent and more influential
Even greater in contexts that are stereotypically
masculine
 Also in gender-neutral contexts
 EX: sports topics

 Women
are more influential in stereotypical
feminine situations
EX: fear of crime
VID

Conclusions
 Effectiveness
requires competence
Men more than women
 Women legitimate in female domains
 Women have extra burden of establishing their
competence
 Males competence is taken for granted VID

 It
is men, more than women, who resist female
influence
Gender effect is due to resistance to female
influence
 Point out benefit and value of women’s
contributions

Conclusions
 Following
gender role norms is more
influential than not
Influence is a male gender role
 Behavior of female influence receives more
attention than that of males VID

 Warmth
and Communality reduce resistance
to women’s influence
Likeableness benefits men
 Likeableness is essential for women
VID

Conclusions
 Communal
behaviors should not be seen as
weak or deferent
Can be a means to influence and the basis of
referent power
 Women’s access to sources of power is limited V

 Competent
behavior can enhance influence
and reduce likeability

Complex interaction between perceived
competence to influence and prescriptive demand
for warmth
Conclusions
 Women
leading in a democratic manner have
more favorable evaluations
Women show higher levels of communal behavior
 Men show higher levels of task behavior

 Gender
stereotypes will likely change and
become more favorable to women
This may already be weakening
 Women can enhance influence by combining
highly competent behavior with warmth
 Organizations can endorse authority of women
and publicize contributions of female leaders VID
