Matching faces to expectations : the impact of political and business domain differences in gendered expectations on preferred appearance for leaders
Name
1026493437-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
3.96 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
afa33ed24a43ed8cc6614f7848c64376
Author(s)
Yang, Hee Jin (Hee Jin Heather)
Advisor(s)
John S. Carroll.
Date Issued
2017
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Prior research has demonstrated that feminine appearance is penalized in business contexts. However, a separate body of research, predominantly centered on electoral outcomes, has put forth conflicting results demonstrating that feminine appearance can be beneficial. In a series of experimental studies, I aim to resolve the conflict in the literature by proposing an expectation-matching theory. I propose that, although both domains of politics and business are associated with masculine characteristics, contexts within the political domain are associated with fewer masculine characteristics than contexts within the business domain and, as a result, perceivers expect and prefer less masculine facial appearances for political leaders than for business leaders. The findings of the studies add to the face perception literature and the gender bias literature that examines the impact of circumstances that make gender and professional roles discrepant in their impact on consequential outcomes, such as hiring and electoral outcomes.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 56-60).
Subjects
Sloan School of Management.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
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