| dc.description.abstract | Despite efforts to reduce gender inequality in the workplace, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions. While many reasons have been given to explain why this happens, one factor that may contribute to this disparity is the Queen Bee Phenomenon, when senior women in male-dominated environments distance themselves in pursuit of individual mobility, and thus legitimize gender inequality. In response to this, the current study investigated how exposure to the Queen Bee Phenomenon affects women’s attributions of workplace gender inequality and whether gender identification moderates this relationship. It was hypothesized that women with low gender identification, when exposed to Queen Bee behavior, would be more likely to attribute inequality to other women (H1), while women with high gender identification would attribute gender inequality to male-dominated factors (H2). Participants who identified as female (N = 180) were randomly assigned to read a message from a female executive either legitimizing or challenging gender inequality. Afterwards, participants completed scales that measured attribution of responsibility and gender identification. Contrary to expectations, no significant interaction effects were found. Neither solidarity nor centrality moderated this relationship. However, solidarity revealed a significant main effect on attribution of responsibility to men. Several factors may account for this outcome, which are further explored in the discussion section, highlighting the need for future research. | |
