Marla Baskerville Watkins

Gendered Influence: A Gender Role Perspective on the Use and Effectiveness of Influence Tactics

The current study meta-analytically examined the gendered nature of lateral and upward influence attempts. Drawing from gender role theory, we investigated the extent to which the gender of the influence actor affected the use and effectiveness of influence behaviors. The role of a gendered environmental context was also examined. The results provided limited support of gender role theory such that men were more likely to use agentic influence tactics and women were more likely to receive personal advancement outcomes when they used communal influence tactics. Overall, the current work suggests that influence tactics may be gendered in nature such that there may be gender differences in the frequency of use and subsequent outcomes thereof. Recommendations for future research on influence include increased attention to the potentially gendered nature of influence behaviors as well as more explicit considerations of the impact of gender and gendered environment on influence effectiveness.

Importance of women's political skill in male-dominated organizations

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate whether or not political skill helps women working in a male-dominated environment to obtain positions with authority. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys were emailed to female lawyers working full-time in a variety of law firms across the USA. Participants were 140 lawyers with an average of ten years of practicing law. Findings – In support of their hypotheses, the authors found that when working in male-dominated organizations, women with high levels of political skill fared better than women with low levels of political skill in terms of obtaining positions with authority. Research limitations/implications – Because the research design was cross-sectional, direction of causality cannot be established. Second, common method bias may have affected the observed relationships. Practical implications – Given that women with political skill may be able to recognize and break down the barriers that are especially present in male-dominated organizations, wo...

Subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism: a scale development

Purpose – Drawing from social dominance theories and conceptualizations of paternalism, the purpose of this paper is to define and develop a measure of subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism (SPSP). Design/methodology/approach – The authors assess the validity of the measure using Hinkin’s (1998) scale development steps. Findings – The authors found evidence of the convergent and discriminant validity of the measure of subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism drawing from three different samples. Participants in the study were also able to differentiate a low from a high paternalism condition using the measure of paternalism. Finally, as expected, the interaction between a supervisor’s benevolence and control was significantly associated with subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism. Research limitations/implications – The authors provide evidence for the validity of a measure of subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor paternalism while controlling for various status sig...