The influence of sexual orientation and gender on perceptions of successful leadership characteristics

Abstract

Previous research has extensively studied the role of gender on leadership perceptions, but little research has examined the dual effect of both gender and sexual orientation on leadership perceptions. Due to research demonstrating that sexual orientation-based discrimination and stereotyping are common occurrences in workplace contexts (King and Cortina. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice 3(1):69–78, 2010), information about a person’s sexual orientation may impact how people are viewed as leaders. The current study extends the leadership literature by examining the degree to which successful leader characteristics align with stereotypes of gay male and lesbian leaders and heterosexual male and female leaders. 156 heterosexual participants used a modified version of the Descriptive Index attribute inventory to rate one of five target groups: successful leaders, heterosexual male leaders, heterosexual female leaders, gay male leaders, and lesbian leaders. The findings revealed that heterosexual male leaders were seen as more similar to successful leaders than lesbian and gay male leaders. Additionally, the results found that gay male and lesbian leaders were seen as more similar to their opposite-sex heterosexual counterparts than to their same-sex heterosexual counterparts. Finally, the results provide a descriptive profile of the leadership-related attributes that each target group is perceived to possess, demonstrating that leaders are evaluated differently on specific attributes depending on their gender and sexual orientation.