Not All Powerful People Are Created Equal: An Examination of Gender and Pathways To Social Hierarchy Through The Lens of Social Cognition

Authors:

Abstract: Across four studies (N = 816), we uncover a gender stereotype about dual pathways to social hierarchy: men are associated with power and women are associated with status. We detect this pattern both explicitly and implicitly in perceptions of individuals drawn from Forbes’ powerful people lists in undergraduate and online samples. Then, we examine social cognitive implications, including prominent people’s degree of recognition by individuals and society, and the formation of men’s and women’s self-concepts. We find that power (status) ratings predict greater recognition of men (women) and lesser recognition of women (men). In terms of the self-concept, we find that women internalize the stereotype associating women with status more than power, implicitly and explicitly. While men explicitly report having less status and more power than women, men implicitly associate the self with status as much as power. Because both power and status are pathways to social hierarchies, one might wonder why this distinction is important. However, these hierarchies have divergent outcomes. Those with status are still expected to be fair and warm and to engage in perspective-taking. These expectations reinforce the notion that others confer status. Status hierarchies are more mutable than power, marked by diminished control and stability. Further, power and status differ in the tangibility of what they influence. Therefore, power hierarchies are more zero-sum, and having tangible control over resources can impede others. This is in contrast to status, which can be conferred to many without being diminished, yet easily lost. This suggests that gender stereotyping of hierarchies has critical societal outcomes.

Track: DEI

Keywords: gender, power, status, hierarchy, influence