Chivalry and Paternalism v. Nurturance and Maternalism: are Female Managers Partial to Female Grievants? The Missing Link in the Grievance Resolution Literature
Harsh K. Luthar
DOI: 10.2190/CUTP-CGJH-85BX-P5CN
Abstract
A controlled field experiment was conducted with 129 public sector managers participating as subjects. The managers responded to a complex and detailed grievance resolution case in which the performance of the grievant had to be assessed. Both the gender and the gender-role behavior of the grievant were manipulated in the written-case scenario. The results showed an interaction between the gender of the evaluating public sector managers and the gender role of the grievant. Male managers rated the performance of aggressive grievants higher than that of nonaggressive grievants, whereas the female managers showed just the opposite tendency. Female managers, however, were also significantly harsher in their performance evaluation of aggressive male grievants than of aggressive female grievants. No evidence was found for the paternalism/chivalry effect or the queen-bee syndrome. The discussion centers on the need to start focusing on the evaluative and decision-making behavior of both male and female managers in the grievance resolution literature. Other implications of the results are discussed.
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