Role congruity theory proposes that a group will be positively evaluated when its characteristics are recognized as aligning with that group's typical social roles (Eagly & Diekman, 2005).Eagly, A. H., & Diekman, A. B. (2005). What is the problem? Prejudice as an attitude-in-context. In J. Dovidio, P. Glick, & L. Rudman (Eds.), On the nature of prejudice: Fifty years after Allport (pp. 19-35). Gospons, Blackwell Publishing. Conversely, the stereotype fit hypothesis suggests that group members will experience discrimination in different social roles or positions to the extent that their group stereotypically does not have characteristics associated with success in the position. For instance, women may not be considered a good fit for a managerial position if being aggressive is seen as a characteristic of a successful manager. Due to stereotype fit, men may be considered more qualified for the position and are not only more likely to be hired, but are also more likely to be promoted as well.
Origin Role congruity theory was coined by Eagly and Karau (2002),Eagly. A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002) Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109, 573–598. prejudice toward female leaders occurs because inconsistencies exist between the characteristics associated with the female gender stereotype and those associated with the typical leadership.
Implications Women in leadership roles
One of the two main causes of prejudice preventing women from achievement of high-status positions or success is the perception of women when placed in leadership roles. In an article on prejudice towards female leaders, Eagly and Karau (2002) found that women who are leaders are perceived in a less positive manner when compared to male leaders. Eagly and Karau (2002) also showed that women have a more difficult time achieving high status positions in the workplace and in maintaining these positions through achievement and success. Evidence suggests that prejudice towards women in leadership positions occurs more frequently in situations where larger inconsistencies between female gender roles and leadership roles are present.
Eagly (1987)Eagly, A.H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. suggest women due to their socially accepted roles are more often perceived in lower status positions than those of their male counterparts. These accepted gender stereotypes allow for a greater prediction of sex differences between males and females in social behaviors.
Findings consistent with this theory can be seen in evidence presented by Eagly and Karau (1991),Eagly, A.H., & Karau, S. J. (1991) Gender and the emergence of leaders: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 685–710 who found that men emerged more often than women as leaders. Although women do advance in social leadership roles, positions of leadership involving specialization or behaviors related to a groups purpose are more often attributed to men.
Ritter and Yoder (2004)Ritter, B.A., & Yoder, J.D. (2004). Gender differences in leader emergence persist even for dominant women: An updated confirmation of Role Congruity Theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 187-193. provide further evidence of gender role differences in leadership positions between men and women. Women and men, based on their level of dominance, were placed in groups consisting of either (man, man), (woman, man), or (woman, woman) and then assigned task randomly. Participants with higher dominance ratings emerged as leaders in all groups except for (woman, man) pairs. When assigned tasks were of a masculine or gender-neutral nature, males emerged more often than females as leaders. These findings suggest that even when women possess dominant characteristics, masculinized task as well as gender stereotypes prohibit the emergence of women into leadership positions.
Women and the workplace The stereotype fit hypothesis was developed by HeilmanHeilman, M. (2001). "Description and prescription: How gender stereotypes prevent women's ascent up the organizational ladder". Journal of Social Issues, Gender, Hierarchy, and Leadership 57 (4): 657-674. in order to evaluate the current role of women in high-power positions in the workplace.Whitley, B.E. & Kite, M.E. (2010). The psychology of prejudice and discrimination. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006, pp. 394, 397, . Since Heilman's initial research, many studies have been conducted to determine how women are affected by job positions which are considered to be more masculine. For example, Lyness & Heilman (2006)Lyness K.S., & Heilman, M. E. (2006). "When fit is fundamental: Performance evaluations and promotions of upper-level female and male managers". Journal of Applied Psychology, 91 (4): 777-785. utilized archival organizational data from a multinational finances company to study the effects of stereotype fit on performance evaluations and promotions. Their study found upper-level female managers were rated more negatively than men in similar or lower positions and females in lower management positions. The authors also found that out of those promoted, females received more favorable ratings than their male counterparts – suggesting a more stringent threshold for promotion for women (see shifting standards). In a similar study by Eagly & Karau (2002),Eagly, A.H., & Karau, S.J. (2002). "Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders". Psychological Review 109 (3): 573-598. because of male-manager stereotypes, women are seen as less likely to fit managerial roles and, as a result, when they do achieve those positions, are looked on less favorably when performing the same managerial duties.
The stigma of women in the workplace, however, is not set in stone. According to a study by Heilman (2001), women have made considerable progress in attaining managerial positions, but there are still obstacles in the way of organizational equality; if there is any uncertainty about their skills, women are still likely to be viewed as incompetent or socially rejected.
Women in faculty roles Research on role congruity theory further indicates that women in faculty positions struggle with meeting the expectations of the male-dominated role (Whitley & Kite, 2010).Whitley, B.E.; Kite, M.E. (2010), The psychology of prejudice and discrimination, Belmont, CA: Whitley, B.E.; Kite, M.E. (2010), The psychology of prejudice and discrimination, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Caplan (1994) asserts characteristics associated with the female stereotype (i.e., "nurturance", "warmth", and "supportiveness") are incongruent with the expectations of faculty—which are masculine in nature (i.e., "directive", "assertive", "knowledgeable"). Therefore, a female faculty member violates societal expectations for both the categories of women and leader. This violation results in both discrepant expectations for men and women and more negative evaluations of women in such positions. Consistent with role congruity theory, Winocour, Schoen and Sirowatka (1989)Winocur, S. Shoen, L. G., & Sirowatka A. H. (1989). Perceptions of male and female academics within a teaching context. Research in Higher Education, 30, 317-329. found ratings of male professors were not dependent on their lecture style. However, female students were more favorable of a female professor with a discussion-based lecture style and male students only preferred female professor who focused on providing information. Further, Statham, Richardson and Cook (1991)Eagly, A.H., & Karau, S. J. (1991) Gender and the emergence of leaders: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 685-710. noted students delegated more negative evaluations to female professors with a teaching style low in structure than males regardless of their teaching style. Similarly, Kierstad, D'Agostino and Dill (1988)Kierstead, D., D'Agostino, P., & Dill, H. (1988). Sex role stereotyping of college professors: bias in students' ratings of instructors. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 324-344. reported that only female professors who socialized with students received positive ratings; male ratings were not affected by this factor.
Women in politics Further research on this topic has found that the degree of femininity a woman possesses may have a major effect on the way a woman of political power is perceived. Gervais and Hillard (2011)Gervais, S., Hillard, A. (2011) A role congruity perspective on prejudice toward Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Analysis of Social Issues and Public Policy. 11. 221-240. cite the case studies of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin to prove their point. Gervais and Hillard suggest that Clinton and Palin may be perceived negatively by viewers because they are women in roles of power and leadership in the government, which violates the stereotypical gender norm that women can not be leaders. Because of this contradictory notion, they will be viewed less favorably. Gervais and Hillard then go on to argue that both Clinton and Palin "violate gender norms" in different ways, perhaps leading to different evaluations of their warmth and competence. Hillary Clinton presents herself in a more masculine way and this is viewed as congruent with the leadership role, but not with the feminine archetype. This type of woman who violates feminine gender roles is typically seen as competent, but harsh. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, presents herself with a very feminine attitude that falls in line with her gender role but not with the leadership role. A woman in this position is typically seen as warm, but incompetent. Due to the implications of this finding, Gervais and Hillard hypothesized that Clinton would be rated as more competent but less warm and Palin would be rated as less competent but more warm.
Gervais and Hillard also looked at the effect of benevolent sexism and hostile sexism and how these affected the perception of Clinton and Palin in regards to gender norms. Benevolent sexism is a sort of chivalrous attitude where men believe that women are in need of saving and must be looked after because they are unable to do it themselves. This type of sexism was positively associated with voting likelihood for Sarah Palin due to the prominent feminine nature of her appearance, and negatively associated with Hillary Clinton due to the more masculine nature of her appearance. Hostile sexism is defined simply as negative attitudes toward women. Both Palin and Clinton were evaluated negatively by hostile sexists, but they were still more likely to vote for Palin than Clinton because Palin is stereotypically more feminine and this falls better in line with her expected gender norms. In general, benevolent sexists will praise Palin for her femininity and hostile sexists will penalize Clinton for her rejection of feminine gender norms.
Gender double bind A double bind occurs when an individual faces two or more contradictory demands, in which a successful response to one demand means a failed response to the other. A gender specific double bind occurs due to social expectations about different roles, such as when traits positively associated with leadership conflict with traits stereotypically associated with femininity. Women in leadership positions experience a double bind situation as a result of the biases identified by role congruity theory that traps women into a bind of meeting the demands of both leadership and being a woman.