ISSN : 1738-3110
Purpose - Since the early 1990s, it has been observed that the number and substance of studies on female leadership have been increasing. One of the reasons for this development may be concerned with the increasing number of female labor market participants as well as the greater opportunities for them to take higher positions in various organizations. In addition to this, the transition from mechanistic organizational structures that emphasize authority, control, and efficiency toward organic ones that focus on environmental adaptability, equality, and trust has also encouraged research on female leadership. The research tendency is based on the assumption that male and female leaders tend to exhibit different leadership styles according to their gender differences. Recent research has cast doubt on this assumption, by showing that the sociological gender roles of men and women are independent such that some female leaders show authoritative and control-oriented leadership, which were once considered to be male leadership styles. Research design, data, and methodology - This research attempts to carry out an empirical study on the gender-related leadership styles of female leaders and to examine their effect on group performance in the K business organization. This study also focuses on leader attributes such as trust, and it aims to discover whether these attributes should be regarded as independent or as moderating variables between leadership styles and performance. For these purposes, this study generated four hypotheses based on a review of the literature and it tested them using a survey. Female workers in the sales departments of the K Company, all of whom are women, were asked to provide answers to the presented questionnaires. This study hypothesizes that the type of gender roles played by women leaders will affect the job satisfaction and organizational commitment among the members of the sales group, and that the level of trust that is garnered by women leaders will also affect the types of gender roles that they play as well as employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Results - The results of this study show that both androgynous and masculine leadership styles are superior to the feminine leadership style in terms of employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, contrary to our expectations, this study fails to show the superiority of the androgynous leadership style over the masculine leadership style. Moreover, there are no significant differences between these two leadership styles with regard to group performance. Conclusions - This study shows that it is important that different attributes of leaders, such as how trusted they are, be treated as moderating variables between leadership and performance rather than as independent variables. Finally, as this is the first attempt to view the role of the gender in a new perspective, the managerial implications of this study for leadership research, as well as its limitations, are presented. Suggestions for future related research are also proposed.
Bem, S. L., & & Lenney, E. (1976). Sex typing and the avoidance of cross-sex behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33(1), 48-54.
Bem, S. L. (1972). Psychology looks at Sex Roles: Where have all the androgynous People gone?. Paper presented at the UCLA Symposium on Women, 120-125.
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155-162.
Bem, S. L., & Martyn, W. (1976). Sex-typing and androgyny:Further explorations of the expressive domain. Journal of Personality and social psychology, 34, 1016-1023.
Bem, S. L. (1977). On the Utility of Alternative Procedure for Assessing Psychological Androgyny. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45(2),196-205.
Bigley, G. A. (1990). Follower Trust in the Leader at Work :Concept Development, Behavioral Antecedents, and Effect on Followers' Fairness Perceptions and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors. Irvin: PhD Thesis of University of California.
Birdsall, P. (1980). A comparative Analysis of Male Female managerial Communication Style in two Organizations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16, 183-196.
Blake, R. B., & Mouton, J. S. (1984). Solving Castly Organizational Conflicts. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Brayfield, A. H., & Rothe, H. F. (1951). An Index of Job Satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 35(5), 307-311.
Broverman, I. K., Broverman, D. M., Clakson, F. E., Rosenkrantz D. S., & Vogel, S. R. (1970). Sex Role Stereotypes and Judgements of Mental Health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 34(1), 1-7.
Doney, P. M., Cannon, J. P., & Mullen, M. R. (1998). Understanding the Influence of natioanl Culture on the Development of Trust. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 601-621.
Ellis, L. J., & Bentler, P. R. (1973). Traditional Sex-determined Role Standards and Sex Stereotypes. Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 25, 28-34.
Hollander, E. P. (1992). The essential Interdependence of Leadership and Followership. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1(2), 71-75.
Im, Sung-Man, & Kim, Myung-Yun (2000). Trust in the Organization. Korean Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 13(2), 1-19.
Jones, G. R., & George, J. M. (1998). The Experience and Evolution of Trust: Implications for Cooperation and Teamwork. Academy of Management Review, 23, 531-546.
Jung, Jean-Kyung (1990). Korean Sex Role Inventory (KSRI). Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 5(1), 87-92.
Kaplan, A. G., & Sendney, M. A. (1980). Psychology and Sex Roles: An Androgynous Perspective. Boston : Little Brown.
Kin, Jung-Ho (2000). Study of the Antecedents of the Subordinate’s Trust in the Leader in Korea Organizational Context. Seoul, Korea: Thesis for Doctorate in Sung Kyun Kwan University.
Ledwich, S., & Colgan, F. (1996). Women in Organizations:Challenging Gender Politics. London, UK: Macmillan Press Ltd.
Lee, In-Suk, & Jeon, Moo-Kyeong (2005). A Relationships between Trusts in Organization and Organizational Performance. Sogang Journal of Business, 16(2), 227-250.
Loden, M. (1985). Feminine Leadership of how to success in business without being one of the boys. New York :Times Books.
Lunnerberg, P. W. (1970). Stereotypic Aspect in Masculinity-Femininity Measurement. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 34(1), 113-118.
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative Model of Organizational Trust. Academy of management Review, 20, 709-734.
Mowday, R., Porter, L., & Steers, R. (1979). The Measurement of Organizational Commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 224-247.
Parsons, T., & Bales, R. E. (1955). Family Socialization and Interaction Press. Glencoe, Ⅲ: Free Press.
Podsakoff, P., MacKenzei, M., Moorman, R. M., & Fetter, R. (1990). Transformational Leader Behavior and Their Effects on Followers, Trust in Leader, Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Leadership Quarterly, 1(2), 107-142.
Rosener, J. B. (1990). The Ways Women lead. Harvard Business Review, 68, 119-125.
Rousseau, D. M., Sitken, S. B., Burt, R. S., & Camerer, C. (1998). Not so different after all: A cross-Discipline View Trust. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 393-404.
Sargent, A. G. (1981). The androgynous Manager. N.Y.:AACOM, A Division of American Management Associations.
Schaffer, K. F. (1981). Sex Role and Human Behavior. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop Publishers, Inc.
Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R. L., & Stapp, J. (1975). The Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A Measure of Sex Role Stereotypes and Masculinity –Femininity. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 4, 43(MS No. 617).
Whitener, E. M., Brodt, S. E., Korsgaard, M. A., & Werner, J. M. (1998). Managers as Initiators of Trust: an Exchange Relationship Framework or Understanding managerial Trustworthy Behavioral. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 523-530.
Wrightsman, L. S. (1991). Interpersonal Trust and Attitudes Toward Human Natur. in J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver and L. S. Wrightsman(eds), Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes (pp.373-412), New York :Academic Press.
Yukl, G. A. (1998). Leadership in Organizations (2nd.). Englewood Cliff, N. J.: Prentice-Hall.