The Leader-in-Social-Network Schema: Perceptions of Network Structure Affect Gendered Attributions of Charisma

Raina A. Brands (), Jochen I. Menges () and Martin Kilduff ()
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Raina A. Brands: London Business School, London NW1 4SA, United Kingdom
Jochen I. Menges: WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management, 40233 Düsseldorf, Germany
Martin Kilduff: University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom

Organization Science, 2015, vol. 26, issue 4, 1210-1225

Abstract: Charisma is crucially important for a range of leadership outcomes. Charisma is also in the eye of the beholder—an attribute perceived by followers. Traditional leadership theory has tended to assume charismatic attributions flow to men rather than women. We challenge this assumption of an inevitable charismatic bias toward men leaders. We propose that gender-biased attributions about the charismatic leadership of men and women are facilitated by the operation of a leader-in-social-network schema. Attributions of charismatic leadership depend on the match between the gender of the leader and the perceived structure of the network. In three studies encompassing both experimental and survey data, we show that when team advice networks are perceived to be centralized around one or a few individuals, women leaders are seen as less charismatic than men leaders. However, when networks are perceived to be cohesive (many connections among individuals), it is men who suffer a charismatic leadership disadvantage relative to women. Perceptions of leadership depend not only on whether the leader is a man or a woman but also on the social network context in which the leader is embedded.

Keywords: charismatic leadership; social networks; gender; schemas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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