A simulation of workplace conflict examined the effects of a manager's pregnancy on male and female subordinates. Study participants-40 women and 41 men from an MBA program-each took part in two ten-minute long, videotaped, interactive role plays with two women managers (research confederates), one apparently pregnant and the other not. The participants' impressions of the managers were tapped using an author-developed questionnaire and brief interviews. Interactive data were analyzed to determine the nature of the expression of emotion and ideas. The results show that participants had more negative impressions of and lower satisfaction with the pregnant manager than with the manager who was not pregnant, and initiated more social conversations with the former than with the latter. Interview data suggest that participants had expected the pregnant manager to be passive, nice, and giving, and were surprised by her authoritative behavior. Implications for pregnant managers and limitations of the study are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aldenderfer, M. S.
, & Blashfield, R. K. (1984). Cluster analysis. (Sage University Paper Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, No. 07-044). Beverly Hills and London: Sage.
2.
Alderfer, C. P.
, Kaplan, R. E., & Smith, K. K. (1974). The effect of variations in relatedness need satisfaction on relatedness desires. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19, 507-532.
3.
Auchincloss, E.L.
(1982). Conflict among psychiatric residents in response to pregnancy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 818-821.
4.
Ballou, J. W.
(1978). The psychology of pregnancy: Reconciliation and resolution. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
5.
Balsam, R.
, & Balsam, A. (1974). The pregnant therapist. In R. Balsam & A. Balsam (Eds.), Becoming a psychotherapist. Boston: Little, Brown.
6.
Barbanel, L.
(1980). The therapist's pregnancy. In B. L. Blum (Ed.), Psychological aspects of pregnancy, birthing and bonding. New York: Human Sciences Press.
7.
Barber, V.
, & Skaggs, M. M. (1975). The mother person. New York: Bobbs-Merrill.
8.
(Reprinted from Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1978, 14, 7-20)
9.
Benedek, E. P.
(1973). The fourth world of the pregnant therapist. Journal of the American Medical Women's Association, 28, 365-368.
10.
Bibring, G. L.
(1959). Some considerations of the psychological processes in pregnancy. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 14, 113-121.
11.
Breen, D.
(1977). Some differences between group and individual therapy in connection with the therapist's pregnancy. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 27, 499-506.
12.
Brenner, D. C.
(1982). Relationship of education to sex, managerial status, and the managerial stereotype. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 380-383.
13.
Broverman, I. K.
, Vogel, S. R., Broverman, D. M., Clarkson, F.E., & Rosenkrantz, P. S. (1972). Sex-role stereotypes: A current appraisal. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 59-78.
14.
Browning, D. H.
(1974). Patients' reactions to their therapist's pregnancies. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 13, 468-482.
15.
Bumpass, L.
, & Sweet, J. (1980). Patterns of employment before and after childbirth (U.S. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 23, No. 4). Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service, National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
16.
Bunch, P. L.
, McFarlane, D. R., & Dowben, C. (1980). The pregnant worker: Who bears the burden?Women and Health, 4(4), 333-344.
17.
Butensky, M. C. (1984). Devaluation of the competence of pregnant women: Does the spread phenomenon that operates with disabilities also occur with pregnancy? Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo.
18.
Camden, C. I.
, & Witt, J. (1983). Manager communicative style and productivity: A study of female and male managers. International Journal of Woman's Studies, 5, 258-269.
19.
Clarkson, S. E.
(1980). Pregnancy as a transference stimulus. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 53, 313-317.
20.
Cohen, S. L.
, Bunker, K. A., Burton, A. L., & McManus, P. D. (1978). Reactions of male subordinates to the sex-role congruence of immediate supervision. Sex Roles, 4, 297-311.
21.
Cole, D. S.
(1980). Therapeutic issues arising from the pregnancy of the therapist. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 17, 210-213.
22.
Corse, S. J.
(1985). [Pilot study of pregnant managers: Interview responses]. Unpublished raw data.
23.
Corse, S. J. (1988). The effect of a manager's pregnancy on subordinates' behavior and reactions to her: An interactional study using conflictual role plays (Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, 1987). Dissertation Abstracts International, 49, 235B.
24.
Denmark, F. L.
(1977). Styles of leadership. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2, 99-113.
25.
Dinnerstein, D.
(1976). The mermaid and the minotaur: Sexual arrangements and human malaise. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers.
26.
Dipboye, R. L.
(1987). Problems and progress of women in management. In K. S. Koziara, M. H. Moskow, & L. D. Tanner (Eds.), Working women: Past, present, future (pp. 1 8-153). Washington, DC: Bureau of National Affairs.
27.
Erickson, E.
(1959). The problem of ego identity, identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues, 1, 101-154.
28.
Fenster, S. L. (1983). Intrusion in the analytic space: The pregnancy of the psychoanalytic therapist. Dissertation Abstracts International, 44(3-b), 909. (University Microfilms No. DEP83-17555)
29.
Fenster, S.
, Phillips, S. B., & Rapoport, E. R. G. (1986). The therapist's pregnancy: Intrusion in the analytic space. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.
30.
Festinger, L.
, & Katz, D. (1954). Research methods in the behavioral sciences. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
31.
Foster, L. W.
, & Kolinko, T. (1979). Choosing to be a managerial woman: An examination of individual variables and career choice. Sex Roles, 5627-634.
32.
Fuller, R. L.
(1987). The impact of the therapist's pregnancy on the dynamics of the therapeutic process. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 15, 9-28.
33.
Goz, R.
(1973). Women patients and women therapists: Some issues that come up in psychotherapy. International Journal of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, 2, 298-319.
34.
Hannett, F.
(1949). Transference reactions to an event in the life of an analyst. Psychoanalytic Review, 36, 69-81.
35.
Harlan, A.
, & Weiss, C.L. (1982). Sex differences in factors affecting managerial career advancement. In P.A. Wallace (Ed.), Women in the workplace (pp. 59-100). Boston: Auburn House.
36.
Hendershot, G. E.
(1977). Pregnant workers in the United States. Advance data for the Center for Health Statistics, 11, 1-4.
37.
Jacobson, M. B.
, Antonelli, J., Winning, P. U., & Opeil, D. (1977). Women as authority figures: The use and nonuse of authority. Sex Roles, 3, 365-375.
38.
Kanter, R. M.
(1977). Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books.
39.
Kleinberg, J. J. (1981). Pregnant on the job: An exploratory study of the experience of working during pregnancy. Unpublished master's thesis, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
40.
Lax, R. F.
(1969). Some considerations about transference and countertransference manifestations evoked by the analyst's pregnancy. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 50, 363-372.
41.
Lederman, R. P.
(1984). Psychosocial adaptations in pregnancy: Assessment of seven dimensions of maternal development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
42.
Leibenluft, E.
(1984). Staff responses to the pregnancy of a therapist on an inpatient unit. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 35, 1033-1036.
43.
Leifer, M.
(1980). Psychological effects of mother-hood: A study of first pregnancy. New York: Praeger.
44.
Lorr, M.
(1983). Cluster analysis for social scientists. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
45.
Mayes, S. S.
(1979). Women in positions of authority: A case study of changing sex roles. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 4, 556-568.
46.
McKamy, E. H.
, Brocher, T., Mailen, R., & Titus, M. (1980). Production and reproduction: The pregnant woman at work. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 4-9.
47.
Mead, M.
, & Newton, N. (1967). Cultural patterning of perinatal behavior. In S. A. Richardson & A. F. Guttmacher (Eds.), Childbearing: Its social and psychological aspects. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.
48.
Morrison, A. M.
, White, R. P., & Van Velsor, E. (1987). Breaking the glass ceiling: Can women reach the top of America's largest corporations?Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
49.
Morrison, R. F.
, & Sebald, M. L. (1974). Personal characteristics differentiating female executives from female non-executive personnel. Journal of Applied Psychology, 59, 656-659.
50.
Nadelson, C.
, Notman, M., Arons, E., & Feldman, J. (1974). The pregnant therapist. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 1107-1111.
51.
Naparstek, B.
(1976). Treatment guidelines for the pregnant therapist. Psychiatric Opinion, 13, 20-25.
52.
National Center for Health Statistics
. (1989). The 1982 National Survey of Family Growth (unpublished report). Hyattsville, MD: Author.
53.
Neumann, E.
(1955). The great mother. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
54.
Nunally, J. C.
(1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
55.
Paluszny, M.
, & Poznanski, E. (1971). Reactions of patients during pregnancy of the psychotherapist. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 1, 266-274.
56.
Richardson, P.
(1982). Women's perceptions of change in relationships shared with husbands during pregnancy. Maternal-Child Nursing Journal, 121-19.
57.
Richardson, P.
(1983). Women's perceptions of change inrelationships shared with children during pregnancy. Maternal-Child Nursing Journal, 12, 75-88.
58.
Rogan, H.
(1984, October 30). Executive women find it difficult to balance demands of job, home. Wall Street Journal, pp. 35, 55.
59.
Rosen, B.
, & Jerdee, T. H. (1974). Effects of applicants' sex and difficulty of job on evaluations of candidates for managerial positions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 59, 511-512.
60.
Rubin, C.
(1980). Notes from a pregnant therapist. Social Work, 25, 210-215.
61.
Runkel, P. J.
, & McGrath, J. E. (1972). Research on human behavior: A systematic guide to method. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
62.
Schein, V. E.
(1973). The relationship between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57, 95-100.
63.
Schein, V. E.
(1975). Relationship between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics among female managers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 340-344.
64.
Shereshefsky, P.
, & Yarrow, L. (1973). Psychological aspects of afirst pregnancy and early postnatal adaptation. New York: Raven Press.
65.
Shinar, E. H.
(1978). Person perception as a function of occupations and sex. Sex Roles, 4, 679-693.
66.
Spector, P. E.
(1981). Multivariate data analysis for outcome studies. American Journal of Community Psychology, 9, 45-54.
67.
Taylor, S. E.
, & Langer, E. J. (1977). Pregnancy: Social stigma. Sex Roles, 3, 27-35.
68.
Ulanov, A. B.
(1973). Birth and rebirth: The effect of an analyst's pregnancy on the transference of three patients. Journal of Analytic Psychology, 18, 146-164.
69.
Underwood, M. M.
, & Underwood, E. D. (1976). Clinical observations of a pregnant therapist. Social Work, 21, 512-514.
70.
van Leeuwen, K.
(1966). Pregnancy envy in the male. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 47, 319-324.
71.
Waddell, F. T.
(1983). Factors affecting choice, satisfaction, and success in the female self-employed. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 23, 294-304.
72.
Zajicek, E.
(1981). The experience of being pregnant. In S. Woklind & E. Zajicek (Eds.), Pregnancy: A psychological and social study. New York: Grune and Stratton.
