Penalties for Success: Reactions to Women Who Succeed at Male Gender-Typed Tasks.

Heilman, Madeline E.; Wallen, Aaron S.; Fuchs, Daniella; Tamkins, Melinda M.

A total of 242 subjects participated in 3 experimental studies investigating reactions to a woman's success in a male gender-typed job. Results strongly supported the authors' hypotheses, indicating that (a) when women are acknowledged to have been successful, they are less liked and more personally derogated than equivalently successful men (Studies 1 and 2); (b) these negative reactions occur only when the success is in an arena that is distinctly male in character (Study 2); and (c) being disliked can have career-affecting outcomes, both for overall evaluation and for recommendations concerning organizational reward allocation (Study 3). These results were taken to support the idea that gender stereotypes can prompt bias in evaluative judgments of women even when these women have proved themselves to be successful and demonstrated their competence. The distinction between prescriptive and descriptive aspects of gender stereotypes is considered, as well as the implications of prescriptive gender norms for women in work settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Human Females; Occupational Success; Sex Role Attitudes; Social Acceptance; Stereotyped Attitudes; Achievement; Human Sex Differences; Reward Allocation; Sex Discrimination; Adulthood (18 yrs & older); Male; Female

Journal of Applied Psychology, 2004, Vol 89, Issue 3, p416

0021-9010

Journal

10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.416