Self-promotion as a risk factor for women: the costs and benefits of counterstereotypical impression management.
Three experiments tested and extended recent theory regarding motivational influences on impression formation (S. T. Fiske & S. L. Neuberg, 1990; J. L. Hilton & J. M. Darley, 1991) in the context of an impression management dilemma that women face: Self-promotion may be instrumental for managing a competent impression, yet women who self-promote may suffer social reprisals for violating gender prescriptions to be modest. Experiment 1 investigated the influence of perceivers' goals on processes that inhibit stereotypical thinking, and reactions to counterstereotypical behavior. Experiments 2-3 extended these findings by including male targets. For female targets, self-promotion led to higher competence ratings but incurred social attraction and hireability costs unless perceivers were outcome-dependent males. For male targets, self-effacement decreased competence and hireability ratings, though its effects on social attraction were inconsistent.
Rudman
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Department of Psychology, Tillett Hall, Rutgers-State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 08903, USA. rudman@rci.rutgers.edu
D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010560:Personnel Selection; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D012938:Social Perception; D013240:Stereotyping; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology