How Virtual Work Changes Implicit Leadership Theories: Consequences for Leaders’ Evaluation

Virtual work has drastically increased in the last decades, and its implementation has been further accelerated by the pandemic. The goal of this dissertation was to understand how this new context changes implicit leadership theories (ILTs) and their consequences. Specifically, I examined three research questions: (1) Does virtual work change the characteristics and attributes people associate with leaders—i.e., what are the implicit virtual leadership theories (IVLTs)? (2) Are these IVLTs less biased against women than ILTs? and (3) Do these less-biased IVLTs result in evaluations of female leaders in virtual environments that are more equal to those of men? To address these questions, I utilized a multimethod design with four studies. Study 1 used an inductive approach to understand the characteristics people associate with virtual leaders and test whether IVLTs are different from ILTs. Study 2 used an experimental approach to test whether IVLTs are less biased against women than ILTs, such that IVLTs include a more balanced set of masculine and female attributes than ILTs. Study 3 used a 2 (context: virtual, face-to-face) × 2 (leader gender: female, male) × 2 (organizational performance: crisis, success) between-subjects factorial design to test whether the difference in the evaluation of leadership potential between male and female leaders is smaller in virtual work environments. Finally, Study 4 expanded the range of outcomes by examining the impact of IVLTs on leadership effectiveness. This dissertation advances research related to virtual leadership, implicit theories, and gender equality.

Author

• Villamor, Isabel

Language

• en

Keyword

• Implicit theories
• Gender
• Virtual work
• Leader prototypes
• Leadership

Date created

• 2022

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Business Administration

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Hill, N. Sharon Dr.

Committee Member(s)

• Ormiston, Margaret Dr.
• Offermann, Lynn R. Dr.
• Aguinis, Herman Dr.

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/0p096764n