Abstract
Our research examines which factors enable women to relate to and aspire for stereotype-inconsistent roles, like leadership. Across two studies, we tested the effects of supervisor gender and supervisor characteristics on women's social comparisons and their leadership aspiration. Our first survey study (N = 303) found that women had higher social comparisons with communal supervisors irrespective of supervisor gender. Our second experiment (N = 465) found that women had higher social comparisons with female supervisors and with communal supervisors. Overall, we found that social comparisons serve as a mediator that enhances women's leadership aspiration. By focusing on social comparisons as a psychological mechanism, we address the value of stereotype-inconsistent supervisors as presenting women with the opportunity to relate to such exemplars and envision occupying roles that dismantle existing gender-leader stereotypes through increased leadership aspiration.
| Translated title of the contribution | ‘If they can lead, I can too’: Supervisors, social comparisons and women’s leadership aspiration |
|---|---|
| Original language | Spanish |
| Pages (from-to) | 51-94 |
| Number of pages | 44 |
| Journal | Revista de Psicología Social |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2026 |
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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SDG 5 Gender Equality
Keywords
- gender stereotypes
- supervisors
- communality
- social comparisons
- leadership aspiration
- estereotipos de género
- superiores
- comunalismo
- comparaciones sociales
- aspiración de liderazgo
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