The Interaction of Biases in the Evaluation of Managers in Singapore

Abstract

In this study, independent samples from the same population responded to three simulated situations in which sex and other independent variables were manipulated. In the first two cases, discriminatory decisions against women managers by male respondents were clearly discerned. However. in the third case where sex as an independent variable interacted with developmental potential. the pattern of evaluative decisions changed. A high-potential female was treated as favorably as a high-potential male while the low-potential male received the lowest selection rate from the male respondents. While the finding is not altogether surprising in a meritocratic society like Singapore, the study points to the need to explore the interactive effects which sex bias may have with other attitudes in a specific social context.