Changing the Tides: Effective Techniques for Female Politicians in Contemporary Times

Abstract

Leadership is a dynamic process in which there is one individual that influences others to contribute to achieving group tasks. The emphasis on traditionally feminine behaviors of creating a sense of community and communicating effectively seems to be in competition with taking on the role of a politician, which is associated with masculine traits. Masculine traits are associated with power seeking, which is perceived to be better suited for leadership roles, as opposed to the communal style associated with females. Asian-American women continue to be characterized with the stereotypes of being obedient, demure, and have occupied less positions than their male counterparts. Because Asian-American women face these obstacles that stand in the way of being perceived as a competent, trusting leader, I predict that these individuals should be rated lower for perceived competence and sociability when compared to Caucasian-American women. To test this prediction, impressions of female political candidates were collected from college students from a large university in the Pacific (N = 60) via an online survey. The results demonstrated that while there were no significant differences in the perceptions of competence but that, there were significant differences in the perceptions of sociability between both ethnic groups. There were differences in ratings between paired videos, but not in a pattern consistent with ethnicity.