Research: How Anxiety Shapes Men’s and Women’s Leadership Differently

A study of 137 leaders and their direct reports during the early stages of Covid-19 shows that men were more likely to resort to abusive behavior during stressful moments.

One of the oldest erroneous gender stereotypes is that women are too emotional to be effective leaders, especially in uncertain times. Contrary to this belief, research on 137 leader-report pairs in Europe during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic indicates that women may actually be less likely to let their emotions negatively influence their leadership behaviors compared to men. During this time, women leaders reported higher anxiety levels but did not translate these emotions into abusive behaviors, unlike their male counterparts who exhibited more hostile supervision when anxious. Women typically engaged in family-supportive behaviors regardless of their emotional state. The research emphasizes the importance of recognizing the unique strengths women bring to leadership roles, especially their capacity to lead compassionately and prioritize others, but also notes that caring leadership behaviors are evaluated differently based on the gender of the leader. The study calls for more inclusive research that addresses diverse gender identities and cultural contexts.

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  Ivona Hideg is Professor of Organisation Studies at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and the Ann Brown Chair of Organization Studies in the Schulich School of Business, York University. Previously, she was a research fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School, she served as an Associate Editor at Academy of Management Journal and is currently serving as Past Chair of the Canadian Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology. Her main program of research includes workplace equity, diversity and inclusion with a focus on gender, but she also examines issues surrounding race, language, and socio-economic background diversity.
  

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  Winny Shen is an Associate Professor of Organization Studies at the Schulich School of Business, York University. She is currently an Associate Editor at Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and Journal of Business and Psychology. Her program of research focuses on issues of leadership, diversity and inclusion, and worker health and well-being, and has appeared in leading psychology and management journals.
  

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