Week 7 - Organisational/Role Models Flashcards
How can you define Role Models?
Role models are individuals who have mastered a given social role and who facilitates a role aspirant’s acquisitions of this (or similar) role.
How are role-models, mentors and leaders different to one another?
Role models - a one-side influenced process, doesn’t have to know they are a RM
Mentor - both sides understand they are in a mentoring relationship
Leadership - isn’t about inspiring personal goals, but getting people to achieve group goals
What is a main assumption in the basic literature about role models?
There is a tendency to assume that structural positions make role models
(i.e. a person is a role model by virtue of being a visible extraordinarily successful individual)
In reality, this is not always true.
What were the main findings of Lockwood and Kunda’s (2007) study on exposing people to high achieving others?
Does this study tell us anything about role-modelling?
The model had positive effects for 1st years and negative effects for fourth years (4th years didn’t rate as many positive competence traits)
- Not necessarily, as you have to identify with the person/ consider them a role model, and we have no idea whether the person actually influenced the Ps behaviour.
What were the main findings of Marx & Roman’s (2002) study on stereotype threat?
Does this study tell us anything about role-modelling?
When in the presence of a competent female experimenter, males/females performed equally on the maths test. But when in an incompetent experimenter, females performed much worse than males.
- No, assumes role-models are the same gender, and could just be evidence for a stereotype threat.
What were the main findings of Taylor, Lord, McIntyre & Paulson (2011) which asked Ps to rate Hilary Clinton?
Does this study tell us anything about role-modelling?
(Conditions were - 1) test only, 2) stereotype threat + biography of business, stereotype threat + biography of Hillary Clinton)
They found that women who believed Hilary Clinton deserved her success performed as well on the control.
- Not necessarily - as if you don’t think that she’s counter stereotypical then she can’t counter the stereotype and she can’t effect performance.
How does Peter’s work help to fill the gap in the role-modelling literature?
The structural approach to role modelling, with its emphasis on extraordinary achievers, does not seem to speak to role modelling (although it may speak to stereotype-related processes).
She is conducting work that takes an identification approach. It assumes that role models are made through an act of identification on the part of the role aspirant.
What were Steffens, Rees & Peters (2015) main findings about how Ps describe their role-models?
- The people who influence who we want to be (and wish not to be) are people we know well.
- Competence seems to be less important than motivational factors (friendliness and determination)
- Positive models are inspiring, increase our confidence and provide us with a model to emulate. Negative models show us what not to do.
What were Peters & Steffens (2015) main findings in their study on morality and role models?
- Managers needed to be both competent and moral to be considered a role-model, to be emulated, and inspiring.
- Competence and morality were very important for boosting self-efficacy.
- If they lacked on of the attributes (e.g. incompetent/immoral, it wasn’t enough to be a role model).
What did Peters, Tee & Paladino (2015) find about pathways and models?
- Perceptions of success were not especially important for role modelling.
- Hard work was important to identify with Jean
- The extent to which Ps found the biography transporting was strongly associated with role modelling
Suggests that it is the pathways people follow/barriers they overcome that lead us to see them as role models.
