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What Works for the
Gander Does Not Work as Well for the Goose:
The Effects of Leader Behavior
Hutchison, S.,
Valentino, K. E., & Kirkner, S. L. (1998). What
works for the gander
| does not
work as well for the goose: The effects of leader
behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28,
2, 171-182. |
This study discovers if men and women's leadership behaviors
are perceived the same by their subordinates.
The article What Works for the
Gander Does Not Work as Well for the Goose: The Effects of Leader
Behavior, by authors Steven Hutchison, Kathleen E. Valentino, and
Sandra L. Kirkner, puts the reader into the leadership arena.
In this piece the effects of leader behavior and leader gender are
being examined. The researchers evaluated perceptions of
support from subordinates in the organization. The goal is to
achieve similar perceptions of leadership and similar attitudes
towards the organization from subordinates regardless of the gender
of the superior. This study seeks to give an answer to the
question of whether women and men will ever be perceived on the same
level playing field.
The authors have taken this
often asked corporate question a step further by asking three of
their own. "Do male and female leaders behave the same
way? Is similar behavior from [both] evaluated the same by
subordinates? And, does similar behavior from [both] have the
same effect on subordinates' perceptions and attitudes?"
These authors conducted a
study to answer their questions. They distributed surveys to
150 employees based on the OCQ, Organizational Commitment
Questionnaire, which measures loyalty to the organization by the
employee; the SPOS, Survey of Perceived Organizational Support,
which measures employees' perceptions of how the organization values
their contributions; and the widely used LBDQ, Leader Behavior
Description Questionnaire, which is used to measure task and
interpersonal orientation of leaders.
The return rate of the surveys was
61%, having 91 employees return them. The two major findings of the
study were that the researchers found that employees who worked for
a high interpersonal and high task oriented superior perceived the
organization as more supportive and were therefore more committed
than a low interpersonal and low task orientation style. This
was true for both male and female superiors with no difference
between the genders.
The second finding was that those
who worked for a female leader with low interpersonal and task
orientations were more committed to their organization than those
who worked for a male exhibiting the same low styles. The
reverse is true for high interpersonal and task orientations.
Employees who worked for a male with these styles at a high degree
were more committed than those who worked for a female exhibiting
high degrees of both.
Hutchison et al also do
justice to prior research on this topic of gender differences in
leader behavior. In this beginning section, organizational
members will find interesting information that might help explain
office conduct by both superiors and subordinates of both genders.
The authors go on to assert that there has been little prior
research conducted regarding the perceptions and attitudes felt by
subordinates which is a major reason for this study.
This piece is interesting for those with interests in leadership and
effects that gender has on both leaders and followers. It is a
very enlightening piece that will challenge your thinking while
explaining any difficult information. Additionally, compared
to other academic studies I have encountered, this one remains
fairly brief and easy to read. I recommend it for both genders
of leaders and followers alike.
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