Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awareness
IntroductionResearch on motivation to lead (MTL) suggests that women tend to be less motivated to take on leadership positions than men. By investigating female motivation to lead, we want to contest this finding.MethodsWe used five samples for validating our newly specified constructs (i.e., prosoc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1544411/full |
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| author | Sabine Boerner Miriam Schwarzmaier Ioannis Tagos |
| author_facet | Sabine Boerner Miriam Schwarzmaier Ioannis Tagos |
| author_sort | Sabine Boerner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionResearch on motivation to lead (MTL) suggests that women tend to be less motivated to take on leadership positions than men. By investigating female motivation to lead, we want to contest this finding.MethodsWe used five samples for validating our newly specified constructs (i.e., prosocial MTL and female leadership strength awareness) in Study 1 and a further sample of 248 students in Study 2.ResultsFirst, we propose a reconceptualization of MTL by introducing prosocial MTL as a fourth MTL type. We demonstrate that women have higher levels of prosocial MTL and non-calculative MTL, while men have higher levels of affective-identity MTL and social normative MTL. Second, we show that women are more strongly motivated to lead if they (a) have same-sex role models and (b) are aware of female strengths in leadership.DiscussionWe conclude that female motivation to lead is not necessarily lower than male motivation to lead but rather different in nature, and that it can be further enhanced by factors that seem particularly relevant for women. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-96cd5e6c64834d68ae6acfcc98709455 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-96cd5e6c64834d68ae6acfcc987094552025-08-20T03:39:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-08-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.15444111544411Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awarenessSabine BoernerMiriam SchwarzmaierIoannis TagosIntroductionResearch on motivation to lead (MTL) suggests that women tend to be less motivated to take on leadership positions than men. By investigating female motivation to lead, we want to contest this finding.MethodsWe used five samples for validating our newly specified constructs (i.e., prosocial MTL and female leadership strength awareness) in Study 1 and a further sample of 248 students in Study 2.ResultsFirst, we propose a reconceptualization of MTL by introducing prosocial MTL as a fourth MTL type. We demonstrate that women have higher levels of prosocial MTL and non-calculative MTL, while men have higher levels of affective-identity MTL and social normative MTL. Second, we show that women are more strongly motivated to lead if they (a) have same-sex role models and (b) are aware of female strengths in leadership.DiscussionWe conclude that female motivation to lead is not necessarily lower than male motivation to lead but rather different in nature, and that it can be further enhanced by factors that seem particularly relevant for women.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1544411/fullfemale leadershipfemale leadership strength awarenessgendermotivation to leadprosocial motivation to leadsame-sex role models |
| spellingShingle | Sabine Boerner Miriam Schwarzmaier Ioannis Tagos Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awareness Frontiers in Psychology female leadership female leadership strength awareness gender motivation to lead prosocial motivation to lead same-sex role models |
| title | Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awareness |
| title_full | Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awareness |
| title_fullStr | Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awareness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awareness |
| title_short | Female motivation to lead: the impact of same-sex role models and female leadership strength awareness |
| title_sort | female motivation to lead the impact of same sex role models and female leadership strength awareness |
| topic | female leadership female leadership strength awareness gender motivation to lead prosocial motivation to lead same-sex role models |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1544411/full |
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