Abstract
In a cross-cultural study, the authors tested whether the leadership role is more congruent with the masculine than the feminine gender role. Participants in Germany and Spain evaluated a male or a female candidate for a leadership position in an industry congruent or incongruent with the candidate's gender role, or in an unspecified industry. In line with the authors' hypotheses, the female candidate was perceived as less qualified for the position, especially when she worked in the incongruent industry. Spanish participants showed more prejudice against the female candidate than did German participants. Furthermore, when German participants predicted that the female candidate would succeed in obtaining the promotion, they made an internal causal attribution to explain this success. Spanish participants, however, sometimes made an external causal attribution. These results are consistent with the role congruity theory.
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