Obituaries of Female and Male Leaders From 1974 to 2016 Suggest Change in Descriptive but Stability of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes
We analyzed 1415 newspaper obituaries of female and male leaders published in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from 1974 to 2016, covering a time-span of 42 years, to investigate change in descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes. The obituaries’ content was condensed to four categories: age...
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Published in | Frontiers in psychology Vol. 9 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Frontiers Media S.A
27.11.2018
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | We analyzed 1415 newspaper obituaries of female and male leaders published in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from 1974 to 2016, covering a time-span of 42 years, to investigate change in descriptive and prescriptive gender stereotypes. The obituaries’ content was condensed to four categories:
agency
,
competence
, and
communion
were used to investigate changes in descriptive stereotypes. The category
likability
was used to infer changes in prescriptive stereotypes. Consistent with theories claiming changeability of stereotypes, our results indicate changes in descriptive stereotypes. Female leaders were described as increasingly agentic over time, but not as increasingly competent. Descriptions regarding communion remained unchanged. In contrast, the description of male leaders remained relatively stable at first, followed by changes in recent years, where men were described as decreasingly competent and increasingly communal. Simultaneously, our results support theories suggesting stability of stereotypes over time indicating unchanged prescriptive stereotypes. Accordingly, increases in female leaders’ agency were associated with decreases in likability. In male leaders, increases in communion were associated with decreases in likability. Overall, our results reconcile divided theories regarding the changeability of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, our results emphasize that research and praxis need to enhance attention on prescriptive stereotypes to facilitate female leadership. |
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Bibliography: | Edited by: Kath Woodward, The Open University, United Kingdom This article was submitted to Gender, Sex and Sexuality Studies, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology Reviewed by: Nicole Farris, University of West Alabama, United States; David Stuart Smith, Robert Gordon University, United Kingdom |
ISSN: | 1664-1078 1664-1078 |
DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02286 |