Leader Behavior Preferences: A Study of Gender, Gender Role, and Personality

Abstract

Implicit Leadership Theory (ILT) states that each person has an image in their head of a leader and interprets whether people are leaders based on how well they match this image (Lord et al., 2020). Past research suggests that a person’s gender and personality can affect their view of leadership (Keller, 1999; Lord et al., 2020). However, currently there is little research on the effect personality type, gender, and gender role have on preferences for leaders with initiating structure behaviors versus consideration behaviors. To address this gap, this study recruited 394 participants through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and asked them questions about their personality, gender, gender role, and the leader behaviors they desire and prefer in a leader. Three multiple linear regressions were run on the data collected, one with a dependent variable of initiating structure, one with a dependent variable of consideration, and one with the forced choice dependent variable. Results showed that participants high in introversion, high in conscientiousness, high in masculinity, and high in femininity each desired and/or preferred initiating structure behaviors in a leader. Meanwhile, it was also found that women, participants high in agreeableness, high in conscientiousness, high in neuroticism, high in openness to experience, low in masculinity, and high in femininity each desired and/or preferred consideration behaviors in a leader.