The effectiveness of three strategies to reduce the influence of bias in evaluations of female leaders

• Published in: Journal of applied social psychology Vol. 45; no. 9; pp. 522 - 539
• Main Authors: Anderson, Amanda J., Ahmad, Afra S., King, Eden B., Lindsey, Alex P., Feyre, Rachel P., Ragone, Sara, Kim, Sooyeol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Bias; Leadership; Social psychology; Women
• ISSN: 0021-9029; 1559-1816
• DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12317

This study tests the effectiveness of three strategies [structured free recall (SFR), source monitoring, and error management] to reduce the impact of raters' stereotypes on evaluations of female leaders. Results reveal several three‐way interactions indicating that that the strategies became more effective as raters' implicit bias decreased. Findings show that the source monitoring and SFR methods were more effective than the error management strategy. The results have implications for improving opportunities for women to advance through the leadership ranks. This study adds to the literature by comparing multiple strategies to reduce the influence of individuals' biases in evaluations of women in leadership positions and revealing the importance of considering raters' implicit gender biases in evaluations.