Too Masculine, Too Bad Effects of Communion on Leaders’ Promotion of Cooperation

Abstract

This study challenges researchers and practitioners in the field of leadership to consider communion as a relevant variable for (male) leadership effectiveness. We suggest that communal traits influence the ability of male leaders to engender cooperation and that this effect is stronger in male-dominated contexts. We argue that this is because relevant traits and leadership behaviors that underscore a sense of community are associated with stereotypically feminine roles and identity. In a series of three studies, experimental as well as survey-based, using Spanish, Dutch, and American samples, we examined such gendered construction of male leadership and its effects on cooperation. Among others, results are discussed in terms of how stereotypically masculine constructions of male leadership may create barriers to effective leadership.