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Exploring the Asymmetrical Effects of Gender Tokenism on Supervisor–Subordinate Relationships
Author(s) -
Ryan Katherine M.,
King Eden B.,
Adis Cory,
Gulick Lisa M. V.,
Peddie Chad,
Hargraves Ryan
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.01025.x
Subject(s) - tokenism , psychology , social psychology , supervisor , affect (linguistics) , feeling , perception , mechanism (biology) , social identity theory , gender role , social relation , representation (politics) , social group , political science , philosophy , communication , epistemology , neuroscience , politics , law
Drawing from social identity theory, this research examines scarce gender representation as a contextual condition that inhibits same‐gender supervisors' support. Survey results in S tudy 1 found that when women were proportionally underrepresented, they reported feeling less supported by female supervisors than male supervisors. S tudy 2 showed that women who perceived they were gender tokens in their organization were less likely to support an outstanding female subordinate than an identical male. S tudy 3 experimentally tested social mobility as a mechanism for the effects of tokenism on same‐gender supervisor support. Results suggest that social mobility and group composition jointly affect ratings of same‐gender targets. Perceptions of gender‐based social mobility appear to be one mechanism through which tokenism influences same‐gender relations at work.