Gender stereotypes of leaders: An analysis of the contents of obituaries from 1974 to 1998

Author(s)
Christine Rodler, Erich Kirchler, Erik Hölzl
Abstract

The present study investigates changes in gender stereotypes by an unobtrusive method. Obituaries of deceased women and men in leading positions as published in four German language newspapers between 1974 and 1998 were analyzed. Following a previous study (E. Kirchler, 1992), terms used in the obituaries to describe former leaders were classified into 58 categories. Frequencies of descriptions were analyzed with regard to leadership success, stability of attributes, and person-orientation versus task-orientation. Results show that gender images were dissimilar in content each of the years. In 1992 and 1998, however, female and male stereotypes became more similar.

Organisation(s)
Journal
Sex Roles
Volume
45
Pages
827-843
No. of pages
17
ISSN
0360-0025
Publication date
2001
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
5010 Psychology
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/65b5a8f8-7b61-49b0-8991-6855c8a327b0