May the power be with you? A micro-dynamic perspective on the role of gender in claiming and granting leadership in interactions of man

• Applicant: Professorin Fabiola Gerpott, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Accounting and Finance ; Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 429334030

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

We obtained data from 103 manager-employee dyads who video-recorded a one-on-one workplace meeting as well as filled in a pre- and postmeeting survey. The goal was to systematically investigate these interactions in terms of how female and male managers and their employees (1) verbally claim and grant leadership, (2) non-verbally express emotions, and how these behaviors (3) relate to reported meeting perceptions. To address these different aspects, we followed the steps outlined in the funding application and analyzed the data utilizing various methods, thereby maintaining data transparency. Papers 1 and 2 relied on the relational control coding scheme to classify each verbal utterance of managers and employees in the recorded meetings as leadership claiming (e.g., giving instructions), granting (e.g., agreeing to suggestions), or neutral behaviors. In paper 1, we visualized the number of these behaviors relative to each other throughout each meeting (resulting in 103 figures displaying 37,011 interaction points) and identified five distinct patterns of interaction dynamics. Contrary to our expectations, there were no systematic gender differences in the emergence of these five patterns. In an exploratory analysis, we discovered differential associations between these patterns and the agreement of managers and employees on perceived meeting effectiveness and relationship quality. In paper 2, we examined employees’ more direct reactions to their managers’ verbal leadership claiming attempts in meetings. Indicating an interaction effect of age and gender, we found that for female (compared to male) managers relatively younger than their employees, claiming behaviors negatively related to employees’ reported leader endorsement after the meeting but not to employees’ verbal granting of leadership during the meeting. In paper 3, we turned to the analysis of non-verbal behavior utilizing the facial expression analysis software iMotions. We developed a temporal account specifying that the managers’ gender and nonverbal facial joy displays have different consequences across meeting phases. The data provided support for the hypothesis that female leaders’ peak displayed joy at early (as opposed to late) stages of a meeting positively relates to followers’ meeting satisfaction. While our micro-level analysis of meeting dynamics offers valuable insights, we noticed that broader context factors must be considered, too. We thus additionally wrote a systematic review (paper 4) summarizing how organizational context factors help or hinder women in obtaining and maintaining leadership positions in contemporary organizations.

Publications

• Die Mischung macht’s: Wie Vielfalt in der Führung bei der Krisenbewältigung hilft. Personalführung, 12, 50-56
  Gierke, L. A., Schlamp, S. N. & Gerpott, F. H.
  
• Think future - Think (fe)male?! In J. Nachtwei & A. Sureth (Hrsg.), Sonderband Zukunft der Arbeit (Kapitel 4), 322-323
  Gierke, L. A.
  
• Setting the stage: initial socio-emotional communication and performance in crossfunctional teams. 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM), virtual conference
  Schweitzer, Gerpott, F. H., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., De Leeuw, S. & Schippers, M.
  
• A review and future research agenda on female leadership & organizational context factors. Paper Presentation at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM), Seattle (USA)
  Gierke, S., Schlamp, S. & Gerpott, F. H.
  
• Reviewing research on organizational context factors & female leadership: State of the field and outlook. Paper Presentation at the Fall Workshop of the vhb WK Personal, Berlin (Germany)
  Gierke, S., Schlamp, S. & Gerpott, F. H.
  
• Statussymbole im Wandel. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.
  Gierke, Lioba A. & Gerpott, Fabiola H. (Eds.)
  
• The complex interplay of leader’s facial expression of anger and joy for follower’s perceived relationship quality: A study of workplace meetings. Poster Presentation at the 52nd DGPs congress 2022, Hildesheim (Germany)
  Rofall, L. L. D., Gierke, L., Gerpott, F. H. & Stollberger, J.
  
• Virtual meetings – an opportunity for female leaders’ effectiveness?! 83. Jahrestagung des Verbandes der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft e.V. (vhb), virtual conference
  Gierke, L. A., Schlamp, S. N. & Gerpott, F. H.
  
• Entrainment in Meetings: Patterns of Manager and Employee Leadership Claiming and Granting Over Time. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2023(1).
  Gierke, Lioba; Gerpott, Fabiola Heike; Klonek, Florian Erik & Van, Quaquebeke Niels
  
• Entrainment in meetings: Patterns of manager and employee leadership claiming and granting over time. Paper Presentation at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM), Boston (USA)
  Gierke, L. A., Gerpott, F. H., Klonek, F. E. & Van Quaquebeke, N.
  
• First impressions Matter: The impact of female leaders' early facial expressions of joy on employees’ meeting satisfaction in dyadic workplace meetings. Paper Presentation at the Fall Workshop of the vhb WK Personal, Berlin (Germany)
  Gierke, L., Stollberger, J., Rofall, L. & Gerpott, F. H.
  
• Who is in control? Understanding different patterns of leadership entrainment processes with a video-based observational study. Paper Presentation at the 21st EAWOP Conference, Katowice (Poland)
  Gierke, L. A., Gerpott, F. H., Klonek, F. E. & Van Quaquebeke, N.