| dc.description.abstract | Women in leadership frequently face stigma, bias, and other societal pressures due to
their occupation still largely being associated with masculine traits. Simultaneously, female
leaders have two identities, being a woman and being a leader. They differ in social norms
regarding behavior and thought, thereby often leading them to conflict as they seem
mismatched. Such conflict can also have detrimental impacts on female leaders’ mental
health and motivation to lead. The present study aimed to investigate whether gender and
leader identity, the way an individual feels about their gender and occupational social group,
separately impact female leaders’ stress, life satisfaction, affective motivation to lead, and
social-normative motivation to lead. Additionally, it tested whether the conflict between the
two identities could explain the relationships between female leaders’ identities and the listed
mental health and motivation to lead outcomes. Lastly, it was tested whether the extent to
which a female leader’s held traditional gender role beliefs increased the strength of the
relationship between gender identity and identity conflict. Analyses revealed that a high level
of gender and leader identity, separately, could have a protective effect on identity conflict,
stress, life-satisfaction, and affective motivation to lead. A low level of either identity could
have an aggravating effect on the same outcomes. The expected mediating and moderating
effects of identity conflict and traditional gender role beliefs were not found. Results are
discussed considering implications and limitations. It is concluded that female leaders should
strive for a high level of either gender or leader identity and that organizations should design
strategies to encourage this, considering the benefits for mental health and motivation to lead. | |
