Attitudinal Measures and Evaluation of Males and Females in Leadership Roles

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Abstract
28 males and 28 females from general psychology classes completed several attitudinal questionnaires, including the Women as Managers Scale and the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. In a later experimental session, subjects viewed a 10-min. video tape that contained either a male or a female directing a mixed-sex triad on a dominoes design task. The script for the leaders and the performance of the groups were identical in each instance. Following the viewing of the video tape, subjects were given questionnaires pertaining to the leader's and the group's performance, characteristics of the leader and the group, and attribution for the outcome on the task. Results indicated that males endorse a more conservative role for females, particularly in management roles, than do females. Female subjects generally evaluated female leaders positively, while male subjects evaluated male leaders positively.