UCLA

The extent to which advantaged group members, such as men, support equality efforts can impact the success and sustainability of these efforts. The present work aims to outline a roadmap for predicting men’s support for gender equality programs as a function of WHO is leading them, WHAT type of threat the program poses to the gender hierarchy, and HOW they are implementing it. This research draws on various organizational and psychological literatures to clarify the conditions under which some leaders of gender equality will receive more support than others. Study 1 is an archival study of real-world men vs. women leaders, examining how the politician’s perceived level of threat to the gender hierarchy predicts reactions to their online gender equality message. This study helps demonstrate how the gender of different leaders impacts the support they elicit for gender equality efforts. Study 2 aims to replicate Study 1’s result in a controlled environment and investigate men’s reactions to business leaders of gender equality. Study 3 branches off to a separate but related line of work. It will explore how the variable of leadership styles impacts responses to men vs. women leaders of gender equality. Unpacking the psychological processes that impact men’s responses to different leaders of gender equality efforts, the insights generated in this research yield downstream implications for the real-world people organizing these efforts.