Subordinates' perceptions of leaders in task-performing dyads: Effects of sex of leader and subordinate, method of leader selection, and performance feedback

Abstract

Two hundred twenty-four subjects worked as subordinates in dyads with unseen, bogus leaders, attempting to solve a simulated business problem in personnel decision making. Members of each dyad communicated and reached a decision by exchanging written notes. Sex of subject, sex of leader, method of selection of the leader (on the basis of skill or on a random basis), and feedback about the dyad's performance (success or failure) were manipulated in a factorial design. Results revealed sex-related effects in subjects' attributions of responsibility for task performance, and in both their direct and indirect evaluations of the leader's and their own relative performances. Willingness to continue working with the leader, however, did not differ as a function of the sex of either the subjects or the leader. Instead, subjects showed a preference for continuing to work with a successful leader rather than an unsuccessful one.