Escaping the double bind : self-reliance is a distinct and positive form of agency for women in organizations
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Four experiments test the idea that self-reliance is a functional form of agency for women in organizations. Drawing on theories of interpersonal perception and group based stereotypes, this paper suggests that women face backlash for displaying agency related to competition and hierarchy (e.g., dominance), but not for displaying agency unrelated to competition and hierarchy (e.g., self-reliance). This is because only displays of the former evoke negative assessments of women's trustworthiness. Participants judged male and female targets to be similarly competent when they displayed high levels of either self-reliance or dominance (Studies 1-4). But, whereas they judged male targets to be similarly trustworthy regardless of the type of agency they displayed, they judged female targets to be more trustworthy when they displayed self-reliance than when they displayed dominance (Studies 1-4). Consequently, participants were more likely to hire (Study 2), to vote for (Study 3), and to invest in the company of (Study 4) a woman when she displayed self-reliance than they were when she displayed dominance. Participants made no such distinctions between men that displayed self-reliance and men that displayed dominance. Moreover, whereas there was evidence of backlash against women that displayed dominance in three of the four studies, there was no evidence of backlash against women that displayed self-reliance in any of the studies. These findings suggest that by framing agency as self-reliance female leaders may be able to demonstrate competence without a cost.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2013 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Schaumberg, Rebecca L |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Graduate School of Business. |
| Primary advisor | Flynn, Francis J |
| Primary advisor | Lowery, Brian S, 1974- |
| Thesis advisor | Flynn, Francis J |
| Thesis advisor | Lowery, Brian S, 1974- |
| Thesis advisor | Tiedens, Larissa Z |
| Advisor | Tiedens, Larissa Z |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Rebecca L. Schaumberg. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Graduate School of Business. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2013. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2013 by Rebecca Leigh Schaumberg
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).
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