Perceived misalignment of professional prototypes reduces subordinates' endorsement of sexist supervisors. 2023

Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
Department of Organisations and Innovation.

Despite decades of efforts, many organizations still have sexist supervisors-those in supervisory positions who define their profession by primarily stereotypically masculine features. As a result of their "masculine" professional prototypes, sexist supervisors see their work as a "man's job" in which women cannot succeed. Research suggests that one problem posed by sexist supervisors is that they may pass their biased views on to subordinates who endorse them as leaders. To make this less likely, we test in two experiments (N = 1,879) a strategy to reduce subordinates' endorsement of sexist supervisors. We do this by encouraging subordinates to see themselves as low in perceived professional prototype alignment (PPPA)-the extent to which a subordinate perceives their supervisor to share their beliefs about what it means to be a member of their profession-with sexist supervisors. Specifically, encouraging subordinates' to hold less masculine, more "balanced" professional prototypes, in which they see stereotypically feminine attributes as equally important to the job as stereotypically masculine ones, reduces PPPA with sexist supervisors. Lowering PPPA, in turn, reduces supervisor endorsement, even after accounting for the effects of other established mechanisms of supervisor endorsement. This research sheds new light on the psychology of followership and offers a new way to curb gender bias from the bottom up. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009790 Occupations Crafts, trades, professions, or other means of earning a living. Vocations,Occupation,Vocation
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D063507 Sexism Prejudice or discrimination based on gender or behavior or attitudes that foster stereotyped social roles based on gender. Gender Bias,Gender Discrimination,Sex Bias,Sexual Discrimination,Gender Issues,Sex Discrimination,Bias, Gender,Bias, Sex,Discrimination, Gender,Discrimination, Sex,Discrimination, Sexual

Related Publications

Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
September 1958, Vojnosanitetski pregled,
Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
April 2018, Journal of occupational health psychology,
Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
December 2000, Psychological reports,
Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
February 1966, Psychological reports,
Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
March 1982, Dental laboratory review,
Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
January 2020, Frontiers in psychology,
Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
January 2013, Rural and remote health,
Felix Danbold, and Corinne Bendersky
December 2001, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry,
Copied contents to your clipboard!