Using role congruity theory as the basis for the study, an analysis of 1,020 articles published 19912005 in communication research and journal of communication, as well as the isi citations these articles received and the citations these articles included, was conducted. Preferences toward gender of coach and perceptions of. How organizational culture shapes womens leadership. We find that the impact of female board members on market performance is positive for widely held hightech firms, but negative in nonhightech firms and hightech firms that are familycontrolled. The role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders extends eaglys 7 social role theory of sex differences and similarities by focusing on the congruity of the gender role i. In general, this theory predicts that rewards accrue when the presumed characteristics of group members align with the demands of relevant social. Subjects were given a long list of people potential message sources, like president eisenhower or soviet leader kruchev and concepts communism, democracy and asked to report their attitude toward each one. The effect of teacher gender and gendered traits on. Selfcongruity theory in tourism selfcongruity refers to the degree of match or mismatch between an individuals perception of a brand or product and the perception they have of themselves sirgy, 1980. Female leadership and role congruity within the clergy.
Osgoods congruity theory the congruity model is a special case of heiders balance theory. We measured participants evaluations of stereotypicality, competence, warmth, and voting likelihood. Congruity theory overview all consistency theories are about the relationship of the thoughts or ideas cognitions in a persons mind. Pdf role congruity theory of prejudice toward female. Both role congruity theory and social identity theory explicate the processes that enable such leaders to emerge and sometimes be successful despite their origins in a marginal status or unusual social location. Although classic congruity models of gender discrimination e. We tested role congruity theory, which states that prejudice arises from an incongruity between group stereotypes and role characteristics, by assessing prejudice toward men and women with a masculine or feminine mental illness.
Female leaders in communal contexts often do not experience prejudice because the communal role is congruent to the. Social perceptions, gender roles, and female leadership. Congruity theory is one of the consistency theories of attitude change. This was a qualitative study using a multiplecase study methodology. Apr 07, 20 psychology definition of congruity theory. Selfcongruity theory postulates that the more similar the two concepts, the higher the preference. Aug 29, 2017 although some have argued that women will be viewed more favorably than men in top leadership positions socalled female leadership advantage logic, we build on role congruity theory to hypothesize that female ceos are significantly more likely than male ceos to come under threat from activist investors. Strengths and weaknesses of the congruity theory glossary references selftest figure 1 osgood and tannenbaums congruity theory one nice feature of osgood and tannenbaums 1955 congruity theory is that it is explicitly oriented to communication and persuasion. Role congruity theory posits that female leaders suffer prejudice in the workplace stemming from divergence between the feminine social role and the leadership role johnson et al. Congruity theory was tested using a variety of hypothetical situations. The first form is the less favorable evaluation of females leadership potential. A cognitive consistency theory of attitude change, based on balance theory but formulated as a quantitative model, according to which if a source s and attitude object o are linked by an associative assertion such as s is an o, s likes o, s shakes hands with o, or s goes with o or a dissociative assertion such as s is not an o, s dislikes o, s avoids o, or s criticizes o, then the. Some tenets of role congruity theory were supported in that male participants indicated that the agentic candidate was more competent when they were male than female and that the communal candidate was more competent when they were female than male. Using a multilevel modeling approach, this metaanalysis includes 123 effect sizes overall n 10,888, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as businesspeople.
The implications for prejudice against women leaders are also considered. The matilda effectrole congruity effects on scholarly. If fairness perceptions did differ significantly, the findings would support the notion that attitudes towards women in leadership roles were less positive than attitudes towards men even after controlling for sexist attitudes, thus supporting role congruity theory of. Though similar to balance theory, it deals specifically with the attitudes persons hold toward sources of information and the objects of the sources assertions. Selfcongruity may be as much a determinant of brand personality as it is a product of brand personality. It originates from the activation of descriptive beliefs about female characteristics and the resultant attribution of. Jan 19, 2018 drawing on role congruity theory, we explore the role of female board members in indian firms. The selfcongruity theory and traveler destination choice the selfcongruity theory has its roots in greek philosophy, but american philosopher william james is credited with laying the foundation for the idea of the self and many of its theories beerli et al, 2007, p. Yet the theory also states that the context of leadership matters. Coined by eagly and karau 2002, prejudice toward female leaders occurs because inconsistencies exist between the characteristics associated with the female gender stereotype and those associated with the. Stereotypically, women are endorsed as nurturers and caretakers while men are. Gender roles are peoples viewpoints about the characteristics of men. The basic idea is that people prefer harmony, or consistency, in their thoughts. A role congruity perspective on prejudice toward hillary.
Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Role congruity theory versus expectancy violation theory. Selfcongruity and brand personality are important concepts. A role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders proposes that perceived incongruity between the female gender role and leadership roles leads to 2 forms of prejudice. A theory to explain the scarce number of women in toplevel management, considering a perceived incongruity between the attributes of a strong leader and attributes assigned to womens gender roles. A longhours culture required by individuals for promotion to managerial positions. Self congruity theory in tourism self congruity refers to the degree of match or mismatch between an individuals perception of a brand or product and the perception they have of themselves sirgy, 1980. In order to understand what congruity theory was trying to do, heiders balance theory will be described before moving on to explain osgood. Heiders balance, newcombs symmetry, osgoods congruity.
Role congruity theory predicts that female leaders will experience prejudice because the role of leader aligns more closely with the stereotypic male gender role than it does with the stereotypic female role. Social roles may thus form the basis of norms that prescribe valued behavior for men and women. Three experiments explored the relationship between perceived social roles and the. Frontiers are the processes underlying discrimination. Self congruity and brand personality are important concepts.
Coined by eagly and karau 2002, prejudice toward female leaders occurs because inconsistencies exist between the characteristics associated with the female. The specific problem is how stereotypical views of female behavior affect women who aspire to highranking leadership roles in higher education. Oct 01, 2009 selfcategorization theory predicts the same interaction for men as expectation states and role congruity theories, but it predicts that assertive women will be more influential than tentative women when education is salient because of the relative prototypicality of speakers. The selfimage can be defined as the total sum of what a. In terms of the role of women in modern military, the military cannot afford to lose talented leaders, regardless of their gender. Self congruity may be as much a determinant of brand personality as it is a product of brand personality. Sep 17, 2012 osgoods congruity theory the congruity model is a special case of heiders balance theory. Following the tenets of social role theory, role congruity theory proposes that a prejudice exists against potential female leaders because leadership ability is more stereotypically attributed to men agentic than to women communal. According to the role congruity theory, the agentic qualities thought necessary in the leadership role are incompatible with the predominantly communal qualities stereotypically associated with women, resulting in a prejudicial evaluation of the behavior of women leaders as less effective or unfavorable than the equivalent behavior of men. According to eagly and karau 9, one of the reasons that prejudice exists toward female leaders is because of the perceived incongruity between the female gender role and the leader role. Given the ubiquitous nature of beliefs that women cannot hold military leadership positions based solely on sex is a disgrace to an organization that relies uniquely on leadership. Jun 28, 2014 if fairness perceptions did differ significantly, the findings would support the notion that attitudes towards women in leadership roles were less positive than attitudes towards men even after controlling for sexist attitudes, thus supporting role congruity theory of prejudice toward women in leadership roles. It holds that learning will occur regardless of whether reinforcement is given, so long.
A metaanalysis on gender differences in negotiation. Congruity between the female gender role and the leader role. A role congruity theory of candidate electability in transitional tunisia perspectives on politics. Two new concepts, false congruity and realideal image discrepancy, are introduced as factors that could explain selfcongruitys role in perceived brand personality. Coined by eagly and karau 2002, 2 prejudice toward female leaders occurs because inconsistencies exist between the characteristics associated with the. Framed by social role and role congruity theories, this study explored the. Our findings help to extend role congruity theory by demonstrating how it can be supplemented based on other theories in the literature, as well as how the theory can be applied to both female and male leaders. This research compares prejudice toward female politicians hillary clinton and sarah palin through the lens of role congruity theory.
Pdf extending role congruity theory of prejudice to men. Self congruity theory postulates that the more similar the two concepts, the higher the preference. Because of this, the unconscious bias that exists within individuals and at a societal level creates inconsistencies with the evaluation process. Congruity theory explained when a group has their social roles recognized as being matched to their characteristics, then this will create a positive evaluation. How gender roles and leader roles produce two types of prejudice in general, prejudice can arise from the relations that people perceive between the characteristics of members of a social group a draft of this article was written while alice h. Citeseerx role congruity theory of prejudice toward female. It was developed by charles osgood and percy tannenbaum to improve on the first consistency theory, fritz heiders balance theory. Theory of contiguity, psychological theory of learning which emphasizes that the only condition necessary for the association of stimuli and responses is that there be a close temporal relationship between them. Do women ceos face greater threat of shareholder activism. Their refinement of heider treated the other person o as a message source. A number of recent studies have begun to address the question of whether and under what circumstances men can also be the targets of. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour and role congruity theory, the purpose of this paper is to specify a model in which the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial intention ei is mediated by three essential motivational constructs i. In line with a hypothesized matilda effect underrecognition of. The conceptual framework for this study was the role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders.