title: A Man's (Precarious) Place: Men's Experienced Threat and Self-Assertive Reactions to Female Superiors.
abstract: Across three studies, we investigate men's reactions to women in superior roles. Drawing from precarious manhood theory, we hypothesize that when a woman occupies a superior organizational role, men in subordinate positions experience threat, which leads them to behave more assertively toward her and advocate for themselves. In Studies 1 and 2, we demonstrate that men feel more threatened (relative to women) by women in superior roles (relative to men in superior roles) and, as a result, engage in more assertive behaviors toward these women. In Study 3, we investigate a boundary condition to this effect and demonstrate that a woman in a superior role who displays qualities associated with administrative agency (e.g., directness, proactivity) rather than ambitious agency (e.g., self-promotion, power-seeking) elicits less assertive behavior from men. We conclude by discussing implications as well as directions for future research.
authors.affiliation: Bocconi University, Milan, Italy ekaterina.netchaeva@unibocconi.it.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Netchaeva
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kouchaki
authors.affiliation: Washington State University, Pullman, USA.
authors.forename: Leah D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Sheppard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001242:Assertiveness; D005260:Female; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D057228:Masculinity; D011209:Power, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: gender; leadership; precarious manhood; status; threat