PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Alta St. Clair

Industrial/Organizational
Winter 2005
 

Characterizations Ascribed to Male Executives, Female Executives and the Ideal Executive
 

    This study examined the characteristics ascribed to executives by their subordinates.  The investigation examined whether subordinates held different expectations of male and female executives.  Further, the characteristics of each of these executives was compared with those ascribed to an ideal executive.  Results indicated that the perceived masculinity of male executives was not highly similar to that of an ideal executive.  In contrast perceptions of the amount of femininity expressed by male executives was very similar to conceptions of the ideal executive.  However, perceptions of both the masculine and feminine characteristics portrayed by female executives were found to correspond to those of an ideal executive.  These findings indicate that the participants felt that, in comparison to male executives, female executives more closely match the traits they think an executive should possess.

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