Previous research has suggested that leaders can often thrive as a result of using assertive and often outlandish language to describe themselves, their ideas, and their projects.  It’s an approach that men often favor over women, which new research from Washington State University suggests might be a problem in terms of achieving equality in the workplace.

Volunteers in the experiment conducted by the researchers were more likely to follow advice from people when those people used assertive statements that couldn’t easily be verified as true.  What’s more, the advice was followed similarly for both men and women, suggesting that such an approach may help to remove any gender bias in the workplace.

“It was surprising. We didn’t see actual discrimination: the subjects themselves seemed to respond about the same to men and women,” the researchers say. “Yet, after the experiment was over, and we asked the participants what they thought we’d find, many of them expected discrimination.”

Follow the leader

The researchers devised an experiment whereby volunteers were asked to play an online game.  Each volunteer was paired with a leader, who was either male or female.  The leader would give them tips and advice on how to play the game successfully.

Each of the players received the same interactions with their leaders, with the only differences being the gender of the leader and the assertiveness of their language.  In other words, people received the same advice in varying degrees of assertiveness.  For instance, statements ranged from “You probably have better problem-solving skills than I do, but here is what I am thinking,” to more assertive, such as “If you listen to my advice, I can assure you that my skills and experiences will help you perform well in this game.”

While each of the leaders gave good advice, the study found that the more assertive the leaders were, the more likely it was that people would follow their advice.  What’s more, this pattern didn’t appear to include any form of gender-based discrimination.  Women leaders who used assertive cheap talk were just as likely to be followed as their male equivalents, despite such language often being viewed as being more masculine.

Gender norms

The results are interesting as previous work has suggested that people who break gender norms suffer a backlash of some kind, but this didn’t materialize in this experiment.  Indeed, not only were the female leaders more likely to be followed but they were also found to be no less likable.

At the end of the game, each volunteer was asked whether they thought the gender of a leader would matter.  Despite the apparent equality during the exercise, it was still more common for people to believe that others would follow a male leader than a female one, even if their advice was the same.

They were also quizzed on the kind of language they would use themselves if they were leaders in the game.  The results suggest men were about 10% more likely to prefer using the most assertive language.

The researchers believe that their findings underline the value women can derive from using more assertive language, and prompts them to wonder why female leaders continue to lean away from it.

“The fact that the subjects expected discrimination suggests that it’s hard for people to know when discrimination is going to happen,” the researchers conclude.