The Effects of Eye Contact and Gender on Leadership Perception Kristy Fedde Minnesota State University Moorhead

1
The Effects of Eye Contact and Gender on
Leadership PerceptionKristy Fedde Minnesota
State University Moorhead

• Results
• A 2 (eye contact eye contact vs. no eye contact)
  x 2 (gender male vs. female) between measures
  ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The dependent
  variable was the rating on interpersonal and
  task-oriented leadership.
• Interpersonal Leadership Results
• Eye contact was a significant factor in
  determining interpersonal leadership orientation
  (p .001), while gender was not (p .30).
• Task-oriented Leadership Results
• Eye contact was a significant factor in
  determining task-oriented leadership orientation
  (p .006) and gender was also not significant (p
  .54).

• Introduction
• Leadership styles are classified based on the
  degree to which the leader is involved with
  interpersonal related issues or task related
  issues (Luthar, 1996).
• Task-oriented leaders display more directive and
  controlling leadership styles and enjoy a more
  competitive environment (Anderson, Lievens, Dam,
  Born, 2006).
• Interpersonal-oriented leaders allow subordinates
  to be more involved in the decision making
  process by being friendly, helpful, and
  encouraging to subordinates (Luthar, 1996).
• According to Moss, Barbuto, Matkin, and Chin
  (2005), women were more likely to use a
  interpersonal-oriented leadership style, where as
  men were more likely to use a task-oriented
  leadership style.
• Eye contact can relate to many variables from
  intimacy to dominance on a leadership spectrum
  (Burroughs, Schultz, Autrey, 1973).

• Discussion
• When eye contact was maintained, the person in
  the photograph was perceived higher on both
  interpersonal and task-oriented leadership.
• Gender was not significant in determining any
  types of leadership orientation.
• The results are consistent with Brooks, Church,
  and Fraser (1985), which concluded that people
  that maintain eye contact will be rated higher
  task-oriented leadership.
• Future research should include how males and
  females are perceived in different leadership
  situations or positions.

• Hypotheses
• It was hypothesized that males would be rated
  higher as task-oriented leaders and females would
  be rated higher as interpersonal-oriented
  leaders.
• Furthermore, it was hypothesized the models that
  maintained eye contact would be considered better
  interpersonal-oriented leaders compared to the
  models that did not maintain this eye contact.

• Method
• Fifty-six students (18 males and 38 females) were
  participants.
• The materials consists of 4 different
  photographs, which varied by gender and eye
  contact, along with a description of their
  current job and brief educational history. (see
  Figure 1).
• The scale that was used to measure leadership
  orientation was adapted from the Blake and Mouton
  Managerial Grid Questionnaire. The scale ranged
  from from 0 (Never) to 5 (Always) in this study.
  
• Participants viewed one on of the photographs and
  rated the person on the dimensions of leadership
  orientation.

References Anderson, N., Lievens, F., Dam, K.V.,
Born, M. (2006). A construct-driven
investigation of gender differences in a
leadership-role assessment center. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 91(2), 555-566. Brooks, C.,
Church, M., Fraser, L. (1985). Effects of
duration of eye contact on judgments of
personality characteristics. The Journal of
Social Psychology, 126(1), 71-78. Burroughs,
W., Schultz, W., Autrey, S. (1973). Quality of
argument, leadership votes, and eye contact in
three-person leaderless groups. The Journal of
Social Psychology, 90, 89-93. Luthar, H.
(1996). Gender difference in evaluation of
performance and leadership ability Task oriented
vs. democratic managers. Sex Roles, 35(5/6),
337-361. Moss, J.A., Barbuto, JR., Matkin, G.S.,
Chin, T. (2005). Influence of sex differences
in leaders' behavior. Psychological Reports,
96(2), 499-510.