Leadership perceptions of men and women: a leadership categorization view

This study investigated the leadership perceptions of males and females from a leadership categorization (Lord, Foti, & Phillips, 1982) perspective. Subjects read vignettes of male and female student leaders which differed in terms of prototypicality of exhibited leader behaviors. Various measures were administered to assess leadership perceptions. Results showed that prototypicality of behavior accounted for general leadership impressions, while gender of the target accounted for accuracy on a recognition of behaviors measure. Subjects showed both a tendency to process information veridically and to use categorization principles. These results are discussed in terms of conditions that might emphasize gender as the basis for categorization and subsequent leadership perceptions (i.e., task complexity). It is these latter situations in which stereotypes about female leaders will be detrimental.