Female leadership advantage: A personality-based explanatory model of the gender gap in transformational leadership

Hsu, Ning

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115896 Copy

Description

Title

Female leadership advantage: A personality-based explanatory model of the gender gap in transformational leadership

Author(s)

Hsu, Ning

Issue Date

2022-07-12

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Newman, Daniel A.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Newman, Daniel A.

Committee Member(s)

• Badura, Katie L.
• Rounds, James
• Fraley, R. Chris
• Briley, Daniel

Department of Study

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• gender
• transformational leadership
• agenc
• communion
• emotional intelligence
• meta-analysis

Language

eng

Abstract

Academic discussion of the female leadership advantage (Eagly & Carli, 2003) has emphasized the empirical finding that women are rated slightly higher in transformational leadership compared to men. The current study seeks to explain this gender gap, by specifying three personality-based theoretical mechanisms that enhance transformational leadership: (a) communion (stereotypical femininity; favoring women), (b) emotional intelligence (favoring women), as well as an offsetting effect of (c) agency (stereotypical masculinity; favoring men). Meta-analytic data confirm the theorized full mediation model. Because these three unique mechanisms operate in different directions, their individual indirect effects are notable but their cumulative indirect effect is small and near-zero. Implications for personality-based explanations of gender effects in leadership perceptions are discussed.

Graduation Semester

2022-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115896

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Ning Hsu

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