Agentic traits, even when perceived as low value, still hold sway in management

ABSTRACT

Role congruity theory postulates that traditionally there is a mismatch between the communal qualities associated with women and the masculine or agentic qualities considered necessary in a good leader. Thus, female candidates are presumed to be less suitable for leadership roles. The purpose of this study is to discover the conditions under which this (in)congruity may fluctuate. In a hypothetical manager recruitment process done in Spain, two profiles (agentic and communal) were associated with female and male candidates to explore variations according to the organizational setting (profit-oriented or civic-minded company) and the value attributed to candidates’ qualities (high or low). Results showed congruity between candidates’ profile and organizational setting when their trait value was high: agentic candidates were preferred over communal candidates for the profit-oriented company, with the reverse occurring for the civic-minded company. However, candidates’ sex apparently played no significant role in participants’ decision making; additionally, when the value of candidates’ traits was low, congruity was only found for the profit-oriented company. We conclude that, overall, the agentic construal of management, with its good and bad features, still has the upper hand in the current vision of leadership.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender role congruity
• social perception process
• gender traits
• management
• company orientation

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, SA, upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was partially supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services, and Equality and the European Social Fund [0004-00014];Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services, and Equality and the European Social Fund;

Notes on contributors

Sonia Agut

Sonia Agut holds a PhD in social psychology, and is an associate professor in psychology at Universitat Jaume I (Castellón de la Plana, Spain). Her current research interests focus on gender inequality in the workplace, and the social psychological factors that shape women’s positions in leadership. She is also interested more broadly in group and interpersonal processes.

Carlos Hernández Blasi is an associate professor in psychology at Universitat Jaume I (Castellón de la Plana, Spain). His current research interest lies in how children are socially perceived by adults. More broadly, he is interested in the relationships between human development and evolutionary theory, including the shaping of gender differences.

Daniel Pinazo holds a PhD in social psychology, and is an associate professor at Universitat Jaume I (Castellón de la Plana, Spain). He is a member of the Social Development & Peace and Corporate Social Responsibility research groups at Universitat Jaume I (Castellón de la Plana, Spain). His research interest focuses on social mindfulness and social communication.