Do Agentic Female Managers Receive Social Backlash from Workers? An Empirical Study

Abstract

The present study attempted to test whether a social backlash existed toward agentic female managers from the perspective of subordinates. Relationships between: manager agency, manager gender, and reference sex, on worker perceptions, were examined via text scripts. Findings indicated that workers prefer communal managers regardless of gender, but that communal managers may lack competence. Agentic women were rated equally to agentic men in terms of how participant workers perceived their social skills, which contradicted past Backlash literature. Finally, a two-way interaction also highlighted the benefits of competitive managers being introduced to their new subordinates via an informal positive female reference.