Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Institutionalization of Status Roles in Task Groups

在社会群体中处于不利地位的个人，当他们在群体中上升到较高的地位时，会遇到对其施加影响的抵制。低地位群体的成员被期望保持他们的低地位，当一个成员获得高于其社会地位所表明的地位时，合法性问题就出现了。合法性理论试图解释一个社会群体中处于不利地位的阶级的个体的行为过程。通过增加合法性，当他们上升到高地位的领导职位时，可能会克服对影响尝试的抵制。然而，当某一文化评价特征处于较低状态的个体（例如混合性别群体中的女性）在合法的基础上获得较高的地位时，问题仍然可能出现。结果表明，这些个体的个人评价可能与具有高特征状态的领导者相当，但群体结构本身可能被视为不合法。制度理论将与合法性理论、期望状态和地位特征理论相结合来解决这些问题。研究人员认为，当一个社会群体中的弱势群体成员上升到较高的地位时，群体结构的制度化以及领导者任命的合法性对于不平等结构本身以及领导者在结构中的地位都是必要的，被认为是合法的。本博士论文改进研究检验了关于领导任命合法性和集团结构制度化的理论推导假设。具体来说，实验将被设计来检验三个假设：(1)当从事一项性别中立的任务时，未经合法任命的女性团队领导者对自己的表现和所领导的团队的评价要低于同样未经合法任命的男性领导者；(2)当从事一项性别中立的任务时，被合法任命的女性小组领导对自己的绩效的评价与被合法任命的男性小组领导一样高，但她们领导的小组被评价为效率较低；(3)在制度化的群体结构中合法获得领导地位的女性群体领导者将获得对其自身和群体的绩效的评价，这些评价与在制度化结构中合法获得领导角色的男性领导者的评价一样高。数据将通过让男女本科生完成一系列实验室实验来收集。

Individuals in the disadvantaged category of a social group encounter resistance to influence attempts when they rise to positions of high status in groups. Members of low status groups are expected to maintain their low status, and legitimacy problems arise when a member attains a position higher than that which her social status would indicate. Legitimacy theories attempt to explain the processes by which individuals in the disadvantaged class of a social group. Through increased legitimacy may overcome resistance to influence attempts when they rise to high status leadership positions. However, when individuals with the low state of a culturally evaluated characteristic (e.g. females in mixed-sex groups) attain high status positions on a legitimate basis, problems still may arise. Results indicate that these individuals may possess personal evaluations comparable to those of leaders with the high state of the characteristic, but that the group structure itself may be seen as illegitimate. Institutional theory will be incorporated with legitimacy theories and expectation states and status characteristics theories to address these issues. The investigators argue that when a member in the disadvantaged category of a social group rises to a position of high status, institutionalization of the group structure, as well as legitimacy of leader appointment, are necessary for the structure o inequality itself, as well as the leader's position in the structure, to be viewed as legitimate. This Doctoral Dissertation Improvement research tests theoretically derived hypotheses regarding the legitimacy of leader appointment and institutionalization of the group structure. Specifically, experiments will be designed to test three hypotheses: (1) When working on a gender-neutral task, female group leaders not legitimately appointed to their position will receive lower evaluations for their own performances and for the groups they lead than will male leaders also not legitimately appointed; (2) When working on a gender-neutral task, female group leaders legitimately appointed to their position will receive evaluations for their own performances that are just as high as those of legitimately appointed male leaders, but will have the groups they lead evaluated as less effective; and (3) Female group leaders who have attained their position on a legitimate basis in an institutionalized group structure will receive evaluations for their own performances, and for those of their groups, that are just as high as those received by otherwise comparable male leaders also legitimately attaining leadership roles in institutionalized structures. Data will be collected through having both male and female undergraduate students complete a series of laboratory experiment.