The Interactive Relationship of Gender, Power and Gender Stereotype Activation with Impostor Feelings
University of Groningen
Master’s Thesis Human Resource Management EBM722B20
Date (20, 05, 2020)
Elma Ljuca S2953617 e.ljuca@student.rug.nl
Abstract
It is expected that over half of all individuals will experience some form of impostor feelings in their lives. With impostor feelings being accompanied by anxieties and
depressions, it is important to understand how impostor feelings are being elicited. Many studies have focused on individual characteristics triggering impostor feelings, but the role of context has not yet been studied much. Therefore, the present research examines the
interacting role of power, gender, and gender stereotype activation on impostor feelings, such that power increases impostor feelings for women and decreases impostor feelings for men, but only when gender stereotypes are activated. Hypotheses were tested in an experimental study manipulating both power and gender stereotype activation. Results illustrated that power increases impostor feelings, but no evidence was found for the moderating role of gender. Additionally, although lacking evidence, a pattern was present in which women in high power positions have increased impostor feelings compared to men in high-power positions, only when gender stereotypes are activated. However, this pattern should be interpreted with caution. Theoretical- and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Keywords
Introduction
The impostor phenomenon (Clance & Imes, 1978) keeps gaining considerable attention, not only from scholars, but also in popular media. Individuals who suffer from the impostor phenomenon experience feelings of fraudulence, leading them to feel like their abilities are overestimated and that others will soon discover their incompetence (Clance & Imes, 1978). Approximately 70% of people of all kinds of ranks experience impostor feelings at some point in their lives (Matthews & Clance, 1985). In addition, the impostor
phenomenon can affect various individuals holding different occupations (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). Moreover, many articles recently appeared about celebrities experiencing impostor feelings, as they felt they could not live up to the high expectations from fans (Allen, 2017). College students may as well suffer from the impostor phenomenon as they encounter new challenges (Bernard, Dollinger & Ramaniah, 2002) and even articles on how to prevent impostor feelings in children are being written today (Escalante, 2019; Leonard, 2019).
With impostor feelings being discussed more and more, the issue of the impostor phenomenon takes on increased importance in society today. Considering that impostor feelings are being accompanied by poor mental health, anxiety and depression (Sonnak & Towell, 2001; Austin, Clark, Ross & Taylor, 2009; Clance & Imes, 1978), it is important to better understand how such impostor feelings are being triggered. Notably, to date, scholars have broadly treated the impostor phenomenon as a problematic personality trait or
Therefore, the present research will examine the role of context in eliciting impostor feelings. In doing so, I build on a rich body of research in the domain of social hierarchies, which suggests that power is an important contextual variable that might influence impostor feelings (Keltner, Gruenfeld, & Anderson, 2003; Anderson & Galinsky, 2006; Schmid & Schmid Mast, 2013). More specifically, this line of research has shown that high-power individuals pay less attention to threats and experience more positive affect compared to low-power individuals (Keltner et al., 2003). Hence, this research suggests that having low-power may decrease impostor feelings.
Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that there is also a more negative side to having power, whereby some individuals, in particular women, may question the legitimacy of their power positions and experience impostor feelings (Goudreau, 2011). Research on gender stereotypes (Rudman & Phelan, 2008) explains how women in powerful positions usually experience a lack of fit between stereotypical female attributes and requisite high-power position attributes. This lack of fit arises as women are stereotypically seen as more communal and less agentic than men, and thus not suitable for male-dominated occupations, such as high-power positions (Cejka & Eagly, 1999; Eagly, 1987; Glick, Wilk, & Perreault, 1995; Heilman, 1983).
Men in powerful positions on the other hand, are perceived as suitable for high-power positions, as stereotypical attributes of men include agentic characteristics (Hoyt &
The first aim of the research is to investigate the interaction effect of power and gender on impostor feelings, such that power increases impostor feelings for women and decreases impostor feelings for men. Research on gender stereotype activation suggests, however, that this is not always the case. Instead, theory on stereotype activation proposes that activating stereotypes influences other’s attitudes and behaviors on the stereotyped task (Marx, Brown, & Steele, 1999; Wheeler & Petty, 2001). Even when individuals do not perceive stereotypes as true, stereotype activation is still considered to influence their attitudes and behaviors (Steele & Aronson, 1995). In other words, stereotype activation may lead individuals to behave in a way similar to that predicted by the stereotype (Banaji & Greenwald, 1995). Therefore, I predict that the activation of gender stereotypes will serve as an important contingency variable for the joint role of power and gender for impostor feelings (Figure 1).
Overall, the purpose of this study is to extend previous literature on the impostor phenomenon by shifting the focus away from the individual and focusing more on how the context in which individuals are in can elicit impostor feelings. The present study will seek to illustrate that it might not only be individual characteristics that evoke impostor feelings, but when individuals are female, merely being in a high-power position could elicit impostor feelings when gender stereotypes are activated.
Theory Power, Gender, and Impostor Feelings
Having power means having asymmetric control over resources that others value and thus being able to influence others to act in certain ways (Magee & Galinsky, 2008). The approach inhibition theory has important implications for how power may influence impostor feelings. This theory argues that high-power individuals experience approach-related
tendencies, positive emotions and pay less attention to threats, whereas low power individuals act inhibited, pay high attention to threats and usually have negative emotions (Keltner, et al., 2003). In line with this theoretical perspective, research has shown that power is associated with less stress and with increased optimism, leading to risk-taking behavior (Schmid & Schmid Mast, 2013; Anderson & Galinsky, 2006). More specifically, high power is
negatively related to emotions such as fear and embarrassment, meaning that having power may lead to a reduced fear of negative evaluations (Schmid & Schmid Mast, 2013).
Overall, this line of research thus suggests that high-power individuals may be less likely to experience impostor feelings compared to low-power individuals. When
experiencing impostor feelings, individuals doubt their own capacities and live in fear of being discovered as frauds, meaning that they fear that others will discover their
incompetence (Cokley, et al., 2015; Clance & O’ Toole, 1998). Generalized anxiety and a lack of self-confidence are two important characteristics of the impostor phenomenon (Clance & Imes, 1978). Since high-power individuals experience fewer negative emotions, act less inhibited and are not anxious of threats, they may experience less impostor feelings compared to low-power individuals.
competitive and agentic (Eagly, 1987; Glick et al., 1995; Heilman, 1983.) Moreover, the attributes that characterize successful high-power individuals are stereotypical male qualities, such as being assertive, forceful and persuasive (Eagly & Karau, 2002; Prentice & Carranza, 2002). Men are thus stereotypically perceived as suitable for high-power positions, and as such men in high power positions do not fear confirming a negative stereotype about their group (Steele, 1997). In other words, there is a strong fit between stereotypical male attributes and requisite high-power position attributes, leading to more positive evaluations of men in high-power positions (Rudman & Phelan, 2008; Eagly & Karau, 2002).
For women in high-power positions, however, there is a lack of fit between gender stereotypical attributes and requisite high-power position attributes (Eagly & Karau, 2002; Prentice & Carranza, 2002). This lack of fit can be explained by stereotypical characteristics of women, such as being communal as opposed to agentic and thus not suitable for male-dominated occupations such as high-power positions (Rudman & Phelan, 2008; Glick et al., 1995; Heilman, 1983). Due to the lack of fit between the female gender role and high-power roles, women in high power positions may fear confirming a negative stereotype about their group (Steele & Aronson, 1995) and are often evaluated negatively (Eagly & Karau, 2002; Rudman & Kilianski, 2000). As a consequence, powerful women may decrease in their confidence and assertiveness (Rudman & Phelan, 2008) and start questioning the legitimacy of their high-power positions (Jöstl, Bergsmann, Lüftenegger, Schober & Spiel, 2012).
Scholars suppose that gender stereotypes are learned at an early age, causing
individuals to internalize them (Cejka & Eagly, 1999; Miller & Budd, 1999; Heilman, 2001). In accordance to this reasoning, gender stereotypes may have an automatic impact on
may mean that they automatically experience a fit between themselves and requisite high-power position attributes. Building on this literature, I anticipate that high high-power is associated with increased impostor feelings for women, but with decreased impostor feelings for men.
Hypothesis I: The relationship between power and impostor feelings is moderated by gender, such that power is associated with increased impostor feelings for women and with decreased impostor feelings for men.
The Moderating role of Gender Stereotype Activation
In contrast to the automatic impact of gender stereotypes, research has found evidence for the malleability of automatic stereotypes and prejudice (Blair, 2002). Instead of believing that gender stereotypes are fixed and unavoidable, it is shown that automatic stereotypes are influenced by various factors, such as: focus of attention, specific strategies, context and personal characteristics (Mitchell, Nosek & Banaji, 2001; Blair, Ma & Lenton, 2001;
Wittenbrink, Judd & Park, 2001; Livingston & Brewer, 2002). More specifically, research on stereotyping illustrated that individuals’ stereotypes may greatly depended on the way in which they are primed (Macrae, Bodenhausen & Milne, 1995). For instance, when gender stereotypes were activated by showing individuals a female performing an explicit feminine task, compared to showing a female performing a general task, afterwards female gender stereotypes were much stronger for the primed female gender stereotype group compared to the control group (Macrae et al., 1995).
cognitive accessibility of attributes appointed to members of the stereotyped group (Wheeler & Petty, 2001). Remarkably, even when individuals do not perceive stereotypes as true, stereotype activation is still considered to influence their attitudes and behaviors (Steele & Aronson, 1995).
Activating gender stereotypes may have advantages for men and disadvantages for women in situations that are identified with male characteristics, such as negation roles and leadership/high-power roles (Kray, Thompson & Galinsky, 2001; Hoyt & Blascovich, 2007). This disadvantage for women in such situations arises as they may experience stereotype threat, which refers to the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about their group (Steele & Aronson, 1995), namely, not being suitable to perform masculine roles (Kray, Galinsky & Thompson, 2002). As such, when gender stereotypes are activated in stereotypic male-oriented occupations, women may feel way more anxious compared to men, as stereotype threat weakens the assessments of their own capacities (Kray et al., 2002; Davies, Spencer & Steele, 2005). Therefore, I expect that the activation of gender stereotypes will serve as an important contingency variable for the joint role of power and gender for impostor feelings.
Hypothesis II: Power, gender and gender stereotype activation interact to influence impostor feelings, such that power is only associated with increased impostor feelings for women, and with decreased impostor feelings for men, when gender stereotypes are activated.
Method Participants and Procedure
scenarios in exchange for a monetary compensation or for course credits. The two-parted study was done using Qualtircs (https://rug.eu.qualtrics.com). These two studies were solely put together to achieve a larger pool of participants. After the participants took part in the studies, both datasets were analysed independently.
Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic all physical spaces got closed including the University of Groningen, causing our range of students to participate in the study to shrink extremely. Therefore, together with the other researcher, we continued with the experimental scenario design through sharing the Qualtrics link of the experimental study on various social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Before participating in the study, participants read a piece explaining that they would partake in a two-parted study about business scenarios. Thereafter, the participants read the first part of the study which included the study of the other researcher. At the end of the other researcher’s study, participants were redirected to the current research. In the current research, participants were first thanked for participating in the study and given a brief explanation about the aim of the study. Afterwards, participants were asked to read a business scenario describing a firm that is in need of employees (a manager and subordinates). In addition, the described firm named several characteristics that according to a Professor and his research made a manager a good leader. These characteristics were either masculine in the first two conditions of the experiment or general in the other two conditions. After reading the business scenario, participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire measuring their impostor feelings.
nationalities varying from Dutch (38%), Portuguese (15%), German (10%) and more. The participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (Power: high vs. low) x 2 (Gender Stereotype Activation: yes vs. no) design. At the end of the study several
demographics were asked, under which gender, coded as 1 = male and 2 = female. Measures and Manipulations
Power Manipulation. I manipulated power based on the study of Mooijman, van Dijk, van Dijk and Ellemers (2019), which was in addition based on prior power research (Blader & Chen, 2012). Participants of the present study read a business scenario after which they were asked to place themselves in the role of either a manager or a subordinate.
Participants in the high-power condition were asked to place themselves in the role of a manager. As a manager they were said to be responsible of supervising more than 30 subordinates. In addition, their position as a manager was said to give them great power to make independent business decisions and placed them at the higher end of the organizational hierarchy. Participants in the low power condition on the other hand, were asked to place themselves in the role of a subordinate. As subordinates they were told they would not supervise other employees, they would have little power to make independent business decisions and they would have a place at the lower end of the organizational hierarchy.
Gender Stereotype Activation Manipulation. I manipulated activation of gender stereotypes based on the study of Gupta et al. (2008). In the business scenario all participants read that it is particularly important for the firm to find suitable managers and that
being masculine”. In the no-stereotype activation condition participants read that “the characteristics that came out of this research were general characteristics”.
Impostor Feelings. To measure impostor feelings, I used the unidimensional measure of impostor feelings, constructed by Leary, Patton, Orlando and Funk (2000), after they discovered weaknesses (multidimensionality) in other existing measures. The measure used in this study was adapted slightly to the business scenario and consisted out of 6-items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale for responses from 1 (extremely unlikely) to 5 (extremely likely), capturing the core of imposterism. Example items are: “As a manager/subordinate, I would be afraid that I would be discovered for who I really am.” and “As a manager/subordinate, I would feel like a phony.” (α = .82).
Comprehension and manipulation checks. To secure data quality, I included
comprehension checks to detect careless responding (Weinberg, Freese & McElhattan, 2014). More specifically, in the first comprehension check participants were asked to “please click answer option 4” in the impostor feelings questionnaire to indicate that they were paying attention. Twenty-six participants failed this attention check (N = 26). The second attention check asked the participants if they had to place themselves in the role of a manager or a subordinate. Fifteen respondents incorrectly answered this question (N = 15). Finally, participants were asked which characteristics made a manager a successful leader according to their scenario, they were given three options. Thirty-four participants from our dataset answered this question incorrectly (N = 34). The main analysis will be conducted including all 226 participants, but for transparency I will also report how results are affected when
participants who failed the comprehension checks are excluded (N = 153, Mage = 24.41, SD = 6.02; 66% female).
and “I was ranked high in the organizational hierarchy of firm X”, both on a 1 (not at all) - 7 (very much) scale (α = .96). In order to check the gender stereotype activation manipulation, participants were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed with the statement that the Professor and his research showed that men make better leaders than women on a 1 (not at all) - 7 (very much) scale.
Results Manipulation Checks
The manipulation check for power demonstrated that participants in the high power condition rated the power they had in the business scenario higher (M = 5.65, SD = 1.24) compared to the participants in the low power condition (M = 1.99, SD = 1.50), F(1, 224) = 397.67, p < .00, η2
p = .72. Similarly, the manipulation check for gender stereotype activation showed that participants in the gender stereotype activation condition on average agreed more with the statement that the professor’s research showed men make better leaders than women (M = 3.71, SD = 2.40), compared to participants in the no gender stereotype activation condition (M = 1.79, SD = 1.56), F(1, 216) = 48.93, p < .00, η2
p = .20. These results confirm the validity of the study’s manipulations.
Hypotheses Testing
Table 2 depicts results of the three-way ANOVA used to test the study’s predictions. Inconsistent with the first prediction, the current study did not find a significant two-way interaction between power and gender on impostor feelings (F(1, 218) = 0.06, p = .81 , η2
p = .00). Thus, there is no support for the first hypothesis. The study did find a marginally significant main effect of power on impostor feelings (F(1, 218) = 3.00, p = .09, η2
p= .01). Participants in the high-power condition showed marginally significant higher levels of impostor feelings (M = 2.38, SD = .82) compared to those in the low power condition (M = 2.16, SD = .77). There was no significant main effect of gender (F(1, 218) = 0.01, p = .91, η2
p = .00) nor of gender stereotype activation (F(1, 218) = 0.25, p = .62, η2p= .00) on impostor feelings.
Table 2. Main effects and interaction effects on impostor feelings.
Variables df F p η2 p Gender
Power
Gender Stereotype Activation
1 0.01 1 (218) 3.00 1 (218) 0.25 .91 .09+ .62 .00 .01 .00 Gender x Power
Gender x Gender Stereotype Activation Power x Gender Stereotype Activation Gender x Power x Gender Stereotype Activation 1 0.06 1 0.26 1 1.49 1 3.17 .81 .61 .22 .08+ .00 .00 .01 .01 Notes: For gender: 1 = male, 2 = female. For power: 0 = low power, 1 = high power; For gender
stereotype activation: 0 = no gender stereotype activation, 1 = gender stereotype activation. +p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01.
In accordance with the second hypothesis, the present study further found a marginally significant 3-way interaction between power, gender and gender stereotype activation on
impostor feelings (F(1, 218) = 3.17, p = .08 , η2
p = .01). In order to find out what this three-way interaction looked like, I isolated the interaction between power and gender across gender stereotype activation and conducted a two-way ANOVA. Results from the two-way ANOVA showed that the pattern of these results is in line with what the study expected, namely, that power would increase impostor feelings for women but decrease impostor feelings for men, only when gender stereotypes were activated (Figure 2.1 & 2.2).
However, the interaction effect of power and gender for predicting impostor feelings did not reach significance when gender stereotypes were activated (F(1, 109) = 1.96 p = .16 , η2
p= .02), nor when gender stereotypes were not activated (F(1, 109) = 1.23, p = .27 , η2p= .01). Parenthetically, participants’ age did not influence the pattern of the results or alter the study's conclusions when included as covariate. Further, remarkably, when participants who failed the comprehension checks were excluded from the data set (N = 153), no significant three-way interaction was found (F(1, 145) = .96 , p = .33, η2
p= .01).
Figure 2.2 Graphical representation of interaction effect for no gender stereotype activation.
Discussion Main Findings
The present study examined the role of gender, power and gender stereotype activation for individual’s impostor feelings. First, I expected that power is associated with increased impostor feelings for women and with decreased impostor feelings for men.
However, no support was found for this hypothesis. What this study nevertheless did find, is a main effect of power on impostor feelings. This study illustrates that individuals in high-power positions experience higher levels of impostor feelings compared to individuals in low-power positions. Thus, organizational context such as low-power, may elicit impostor feelings. However, this finding should be interpreted with caution throughout the discussion
considering that the effect was only marginally significant.
gender and gender stereotype activation on impostor feelings. This finding illustrates a pattern in which women in high power positions have increased impostor feelings compared to men in high-power positions, only when gender stereotypes are activated. However, the two-way interaction of power and gender on impostor feelings did not reach significance when gender stereotypes were activated nor when gender stereotypes were not activated. Therefore, we must be cautious interpreting this pattern considering that the two-way interaction was not significant, and the marginally significant 3-way interaction reduced to non-significance when participants who failed attention checks were removed from the dataset.
Theoretical Implications
The current study’s findings make several contributions to literature on the effect of power on individuals and on how impostor feelings within individuals are triggered, or not. First, I demonstrated that power may elicit impostor feelings. This challenges what the approach/inhibition theory suggests, namely that having power decreases stress and emotions such as fear and embarrassment, while it increases optimism (Keltner et al., 2003; Schmid & Schmid Mast, 2013; Anderson & Galinsky, 2006). The present finding thus paints a more nuanced view of power, rather than solely associating power with positive consequences. Hence, this study contributes to the expansion of a consistent body of evidence that demonstrates that power does not universally lead to positive or negative affect within individuals.
may need to consider a wider range of factors, such as context, that may underlie these feelings.
Third, results demonstrated a marginally significant three-way interaction suggesting that power increases impostor feelings for women but decreases impostor feelings for men, only when gender stereotypes are activated. The pattern of this three-way interaction is indeed in line with previous theory on gender stereotype activation, stating that the activation of gender stereotypes for men in male-oriented occupations leads to positive self-evaluations, whereas the activation of gender stereotypes for women in male-oriented occupations leads to negative self-evaluations (Kray et al., 2002; Hoyt & Blascovich, 2007). Thus, pattern-wise, the two-way interaction between power and gender in the current research is only as expected when gender stereotypes are activated. Unfortunately, this interaction effect of power and gender did not reach significance. Hence, this finding should be interpreted with caution and more research is needed to further corroborate previous theory on gender stereotype
activation.
Finally, the current study contradicts previous research suggesting that gender
Practical Implications
Organizations striving to achieve optimal performance, should try to decrease
impostor feelings as much as possible, as impostor feelings can lead to dissatisfaction at work and low organizational commitment which is harmful for organizational performance
(Vergauwe, Wille, Feys, De Fruyt & Anseel, 2015; Meyer, Paunonen, Gellatly, Goffin & Jackson, 1989). The present research offers important practical implications for organizations that strive to decrease impostor feelings and as such increase performance, as the current research suggests this could be achieved by decreasing power.
One thing practitioners such as HR-professionals could do to decrease power within an organization, is to suggest a new form of leadership, called shared leadership, in parts of the organization where this is possible, for instance in workgroups or teams. Shared leadership means that all members of a workgroup or team have an equal influence on decision making (Wang, Waldman& Zhang, 2014). This way no one is given more power over the others, which should decrease impostor feelings. In addition, shared leadership has proven to have many benefits for team performance and thus also organizational performance (Wang et al., 2014).
Limitations and Future Research
The present research is not without limitations. In particular the current study’s sample size is a potential source of concern, as it was somewhat small for analysing this complex pattern of relationships. As such, also with regard to the small effect sizes, the current research may have lacked sufficient power leading to less conclusive results. This limitation may thus clarify why the present study only found marginally significant results, making it difficult to interpret them. Hence, future research using larger samples may increase the study’s power in order to ensure meaningful results. In addition to this, with large enough samples, future research may choose to develop separate research models for men and women in order to reduce the complexity of the pattern of relationships from the current research.
Another aspect which could have influenced the results of this study, is the fact that it came second in the two-parted study. Because of this, some participants may have lost their concentration in the current research’s part, causing them to not fully try imagining being either a manager or subordinate. Although both these limitations can somewhat be taken away through deleting all participants who failed the attention checks, attention checks could still have been answered correctly by only scanning the text, while reading the text very carefully was a necessity of this study.
Somewhat in line with the previous limitation, a final important limitation of the present research is that it used a scenario study in which participants were asked to imagine being a manager or a subordinate and to afterwards indicate how being in that role would make them feel. It could be questioned how well individuals are capable of imagining being in such roles and how good they are at estimating how being in such roles would make them feel. Future research could diminish these limitations through conducting a business
experience. Additionally, future research might also conduct a field study and use surveys to find out how people in such situations truly feel.
Beyond addressing such limitations, future research could expand the current research’s model by examining potential other moderators or mediators of the relationship between power and impostor feelings. Previous research mainly demonstrated the positive consequences of power, however, the current research illustrates otherwise. As mentioned previously power may not universally lead to positive or negative affect within individuals. As such, future research might aim to find out when or why it is the case that power leads to negative affect within individuals. For example, one possible mediator could be the fear of losing affection when one moves into a high-power position. The underlying fear comes from the assumption that having more power will result in dislike and animosity by others and thereby loss of approval and affection (Neureiter &Traut-Mattausch, 2016). Future research could thus focus more on the negative affects power could establish within individuals.
With regard to not finding sufficient support for the three-way interaction between power, gender and gender stereotype activation on impostor feelings, future studies could also make a distinction between implicit and explicit gender stereotype activation. Previous
could examine for both men and women if power increases or decreases impostor feelings when gender stereotypes are activated implicitly, compared to when gender stereotypes are activated explicitly.
Finally, future studies could examine, again for both men and women, if next to gender stereotype activation, gender-role orientation is an additional moderator in the relation between power and impostor feelings. Prior research on female undergraduate students has shown, that only women with feminine gender-role orientations were affected by gender stereotype activation (Tempel & Neumann, 2015). Having a feminine gender-role orientation means that individuals ascribe female attributes to themselves. Accordingly, women with feminine gender-role orientations were affected more by gender stereotypes compared to women with more masculine gender-role orientations (Tempel & Neumann, 2015). As such, future research could examine if women and also men with more feminine gender-role orientation, compared to masculine gender-role orientation, experience more impostor feelings when they are placed in high-power positions, and gender stereotypes are activated. Conclusion
using a larger sample size and performing a business simulation or field study to increase the study’s power. Finally, I advise future studies to make a distinction between the type of stereotype activation (implicit vs. explicit) and include an extra contingency variable, namely gender-role orientation, when examining the interaction effect of power and gender stereotype activation on impostor feelings for both men and women separately.
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