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Attitude Similarity and Stereotypicality in Leader Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Beatriz Montes-Berges
Affiliation:
Universidad de Jaén (Spain)
Miguel Moya*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Miguel Moya, Facultad de Psicología, Campus de Cartuja, 18011, Granada (Spain). E-mail: mmoya@ugr.es

Abstract

Stereotypicality and attitudinal similarity are variables broadly studied in the research about leader's acceptance and evaluation. However, the interaction between these variables has not been deeply studied. An experimental research in which we analyze the influence of both variables and their interaction on leaders' evaluation is presented. A3 × 3 (attitudinal similarity [none, moderate, high] × leaders' stereotypicality [none, moderately and very stereotypical]) design was used. Participants were 215 Psychology students. Results show that both variables influenced leaders' evaluation, although the influence of stereotypicality was stronger than that of attitude similarity. The significant interaction between both variables indicates that, when a very stereotypical leader is not at all similar or moderately similar to the perceiver, his or her evaluation diminishes.

La estereotipicidad y la semejanza actitudinal son dos variables ampliamente estudiadas en los estudios sobre la aceptación y valoración de los líderes. Sin embargo, la interacción entre ambas no ha sido abordada en profundidad. Aquí se presenta una investigación experimental en la que se estudia y compara la influencia de estas dos variables y de su interacción sobre la evaluación de un líder. Se utilizó un diseño 3 (semejanza actitudinal: ninguna, moderada y alta) × 3 (estereotipicidad: líderes nada, moderadamente y muy estereotípicos). Participaron 215 estudiantes de Psicología. Los resultados muestran que ambas variables influyen significativamente en la evaluación de los líderes, aunque la estereotipicidad lo hace en mayor medida que la semejanza. Sin embargo, la interacción significativa entre ambas variables indica que cuando el líder muy estereotípico es moderadamente o no es nada semejante al perceptor, su evaluación disminuye.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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