Date of Award

12-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Jessica L. Wildman

Second Advisor

Lisa A. Steelman

Third Advisor

Gary Burns

Fourth Advisor

Heidi Hatfield Edwards

Abstract

As more women enter leadership roles and the ages of leaders becomes more diverse, there is a need for more intersectional research. An intersectional approach was used to assess the impact of leader gender and age on leadership effectiveness through identification and attributional processes. In doing so, different age conceptualizations were also examined. Gender did not have an impact on identification and attributional processes and age had mixed results. Age similarity was not significantly related to leader identification, but perceived leader age had a negative relationship with idiosyncratic fit. Further, social age was examined with different age ranges representing "young”, “middle-aged”, and “old” leaders. When social age was measured from the follower’s perspective, there were significant differences found for idiosyncratic fit by leader social age and gender profile. Idiosyncratic fit also had a significant indirect effect on leadership effectiveness (i.e., perceived overall leadership effectiveness and LMX). When prescribed age ranges were used, these results were rendered insignificant. Overall, this study contributes to intersectional research examining follower perceived leadership effectiveness.

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