Contesting gender stereotypes stimulates generalized fairness in the selection of leaders.

Leicht, Carola; de Moura, Georgina Randsley; Crisp, Richard J.

Abstract

Exposure to counter-stereotypic gender role models (e.g., a woman engineer) has been shown to successfully reduce the application of biased gender stereotypes. We tested the hypothesis that such efforts may more generally lessen the application of stereotypic knowledge in other (non-gendered) domains. Specifically, based on the notion that counter-stereotypes can stimulate a lesser reliance on heuristic thinking, we predicted that contesting gender stereotypes would eliminate a more general group prototypicality bias in the selection of leaders. Three studies supported this hypothesis. After exposing participants to a counter-stereotypic gender role model, group prototypicality no longer predicted leadership evaluation and selection. We discuss the implications of these findings for groups and organizations seeking to capitalize on the benefits of an increasingly diverse workforce.

Citation

Leicht, C., de Moura, G. R., & Crisp, R. J. (2014). Contesting gender stereotypes stimulates generalized fairness in the selection of leaders. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(5), 1025-1039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.05.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 2, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jun 8, 2014
• Publication Date: 2014-10
• Deposit Date: Aug 23, 2017
• Journal: Leadership Quarterly
• Print ISSN: 1048-9843
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1025-1039
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.05.001
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1378445