Evaluations of Dominant Black Women Leaders: The Moderating Role of Employee Rank and Feedback Direction

Authors:

Abstract: Building upon existing research regarding leaders’ displays of dominance in the workplace, our study aims to develop theory that identifies when and how Black women leaders can effectively exhibit dominance based on their organizational leadership position. Black women leaders often display dominance to be perceived as serious and capable leaders. In recent investigations of leadership evaluations, Black women were more likely to receive negative evaluations for displays of dominance than Black men, White women, and White men. Conversely, another stream of research finds that Black women leaders are not penalized to the same extent as individuals of the same race (i.e., Black men) or gender (i.e., White women) for enacting dominant behaviors. Drawing on insights from status and legitimacy literature, our primary hypothesis is that leadership status will moderate the relationship between Black women leaders’ use of dominant language while giving feedback and leader evaluations. Specifically, we predict that for Black women leaders in higher-status roles (e.g., senior management), the use of dominant language while giving feedback, will be positively associated with their leader evaluation. However, for Black women leaders in lower-status roles (e.g., lower-level management), the use of dominant language while giving feedback will be negatively associated with their leader evaluation. In this study, we will explain that stereotype activation will account for employees’ overall evaluation of Black women leaders’ effectiveness. We test these predictions in an online experimental vignette study, manipulating both leader status (leadership position) and feedback conditions.

Track: DEI

Keywords: Leadership status, dominance, feedback evaluations, leader evaluations