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This study aims to examine factors that may explain the status of women in management by exploring the linkages between leader anti-prototypes and prototypes to gender stereotypes.

Samples from two populations described either a “bad manager” (representing leader anti-prototypes) or a “good manager” (representing leader prototypes) on two instruments that assessed masculinity and femininity.

On each instrument, masculinity was endorsed more than femininity in both leader prototypes and anti-prototypes. Both masculinity and femininity were endorsed more in leader prototypes than leader anti-prototypes but only when the purpose of the instrument was disguised rather than transparent.

Limitations of a single data collection method, the nature of the samples and a newly designed scale for purposes of the study are acknowledged. Further attention to the linkages of leader anti-prototypes and prototypes to gender stereotypes and the outcomes of these linkages is recommended.

Individuals who make managerial selection and promotion decisions may devote more attention to the presence or absence of masculine traits in candidates than to the presence or absence of feminine traits, thereby leading to female candidates being passed over and male candidates receiving greater scrutiny in determining who gets ahead.

The study suggests cognitive mechanisms that may influence the status of women in management.

The study incorporates leader anti-prototypes and leader prototypes to explain the low status of women in management.

This conceptual paper explores a novel model explaining teachers' perceptions of their effective leader through the lens of implicit leadership theory (ILT), using the concepts of school principals' sense-making and cognitive complexity (CC).

The sense-making framework and CC theory were used to explain ILT, which focuses on individuals' perceptions of leaders' prototypical and anti-prototypical attributes.

The theoretical model suggests that school principals as sense-makers with high levels of CC will be perceived by teachers as effective in terms of leadership prototypes, whereas teachers' perceptions of principals with low levels of CC will be related to leadership anti-prototypes.

This paper suggests a model for a multidimensional understanding of the relationship between principals' sense-making and CC and their influence on teachers' perceptions of an effective leader.

Opening avenues for future research into employee perceptions of different leadership characteristics, this model emphasizes the cognitive aspects of school principals within implicit leadership theories. This theoretical model should be further examined empirically, and other types of CC, such as social and behavioral aspects, or affective complexity and self-complexity, should be considered.

This chapter investigated how pre-existing ideas (i.e., prototypes and antiprototypes) and what the eyes fixate on (i.e., eye fixations) influence followers' identification with leaders from another race. A sample of 55 Southeast Asian female participants assessed their ideal leader in terms of prototypes and antiprototype and then viewed a 27-second video of an engaging Caucasian female leader as their eye fixations were tracked. Participants evaluated the videoed leader using the Identity Leadership Inventory, in terms of four leader identities (i.e., prototypicality, advancement, entrepreneurship, and impresarioship). A series of multiregression models identified participants' age as a negative predictor for all the leader identities. At the same time, the antiprototype of masculinity, the prototypes of sensitivity and dynamism, and the duration of fixations on the right eye predicted at least one leader identity. Such findings build on aspects of intercultural communication relating to the evaluation of global leaders.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between leaders’ work context and their prototypical implicit follower theories (pIFT). The authors assume a dual structure of pIFT and argue that leader preferences for certain employee traits and behaviours are influenced by their perception of the prevailing market conditions and organizational coordination mechanisms.

This study was conducted via an online-questionnaire with 182 US leaders from different industries. It surveyed leader's preferences for abstract and specific employee traits and behaviours, as well as their perceptions of the explorative and exploitative elements in their work context. To test for associations of corresponding variables representing leaders’ context and their employee prototype, data analysis was performed via multiple linear regression analysis.

The paper provides evidence for associations between leaders’ pIFT and their work context. The data suggest that leaders who perceive their organizational work environment as formalized consider Enthusiasm (p=0.003) and the pursuit of exploitative activities (p=0.023) as important employee characteristics, and those who experience the market conditions as dynamic show a preference for Good Citizenship behaviours (p=0.027) and the search for explorative activities (p=0.034). In terms of control variables the authors found that more mature leaders favour both exploration and exploitation in employees, while managers of larger teams emphasize exploitation in their pIFT.

The study was conducted with leaders in the USA; results are cross-sectional and representative for for-profit organizations. Potential limitations arise from a lack of generalizability of the results to others forms of organizations, cultures and work settings.

The paper provides the outline of an “ideal employee profile” for the leaders in the sample and describes potential implications of pIFT for organizational strategy relating to personnel-related decisions.

This study provides the first empirical link between leaders’ ideal employee image and work context, and enables a deeper understanding of the structure and content of pIFT.

The purpose of this paper is to cast followers in an active role, and proposes a research model in which follower’s implicit leadership theory (ILT) congruence (ILT congruence) influences perceptions of transformational leadership (TL) and the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship. In addition, the authors expect LMX to mediate the influence of ILT congruence and TL on outcomes.

The research model was tested with data collected at three different points in time from 210 newly hired employees. Results of structural equation modeling provided strong support for the overall model.

This study focussed on extending the understanding of leader-follower relationships. First, ILTs measured on the first day of employment shaped new entrants’ perceptions of TL measured 30 days after date of hire. Second, both ILT congruence and TL influenced the quality of LMX measured approximately 90 days from followers’ date of hire. As expected, LMX fully mediated the influence of ILT congruence and perceptions of TL on the dependent variables of turnover intentions, organizational identification and perceived organizational support (POS).

Organizations should focus on measuring and developing LMX quality during the early phases of a follower’s socialization into the organization. Consistent with other research (Erdogan and Liden, 2002), LMX was a significant predictor of turnover intentions, organizational identification, and POS. Given the cost of turnover, organizations focussed on developing high quality LMX relationships could realize dramatic results.

This study extends prior research by showing LMX fully mediates the influence of followers’ ILTs and transformational leader behaviors on POS, organizational identification and turnover intentions. By using data collected at three points in time from new employees, the authors demonstrated the effect of ILT congruence on the early development of LMX. Additionally, the results showed high ILT congruence leads followers to perceive their leaders as more transformational. Finally, data show the effects of ILT congruence and TL perceptions on turnover intentions, POS and organizational identification were fully mediated by LMX.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the primary basis upon which raters make decisions in the context of selection for formal leadership positions. Specifically, this paper examines the applicant’s personality, the rater’s personality, and the congruence between the applicant’s personality and the rater’s implicit leadership theories (ILTs) as predictors of interview scores.

The hypotheses were tested via random coefficient modeling analyses using HLM software with the control variables included in Step 1 and the main effects entered in Step 2, and interaction effects in Step 3 as appropriate.

Analyses suggest that both applicant and rater personality impact interview scores, but raters do not appear to select leaders on the basis of their conceptualization of an ideal leader.

The results suggest that raters may not consider their own ILTs when attempting to identify future leaders. Given this lack of a natural tendency toward selecting individuals that match one’s perceptions of an ideal leader, future research should focus on adapting current selection methods to leader selection and the development of new selection methods that are more valid.

These findings suggest that current staffing practices may not encompass the most effective tools for selecting future leaders of the organization. These results highlight the importance of clarifying the outcome goals of the selection process in advance by giving raters a clear representation of the qualities and ideals that should be present in potential leaders.

This study is among the first to examine the relationships between personality and ILTs in the context of a formal leadership selection process and makes a significant contribution to the literature by providing insight into the influence of both rater and applicant personality differences along with rater conceptualizations of ideal leadership in the context of formal leadership selection.