TY - JOUR
T1 - It Had to Be You (Not Me)!
T2 - Women's Attributional Rationalization of Their Contribution to Successful Joint Work Outcomes
AU - Haynes, Michelle C.
AU - Heilman, Madeline E.
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - We investigated the tendency of women to undervalue their contributions in collaborative contexts. Participants, who believed they were working with another study participant on a male sex-typed task, received positive feedback about the team's performance. Results indicated that women and men allocated credit for the joint success very differently. Women gave more credit to their male teammates and took less credit themselves unless their role in bringing about the performance outcome was irrefutably clear (Studies 1 and 2) or they were given explicit information about their likely task competence (Study 4). However, women did not credit themselves less when their teammate was female (Study 3). Together these studies demonstrate that women devalue their contributions to collaborative work, and that they do so by engaging in attributional rationalization, a process sparked by women's negative performance expectations and facilitated by source ambiguity and a satisfactory "other" to whom to allocate credit.
AB - We investigated the tendency of women to undervalue their contributions in collaborative contexts. Participants, who believed they were working with another study participant on a male sex-typed task, received positive feedback about the team's performance. Results indicated that women and men allocated credit for the joint success very differently. Women gave more credit to their male teammates and took less credit themselves unless their role in bringing about the performance outcome was irrefutably clear (Studies 1 and 2) or they were given explicit information about their likely task competence (Study 4). However, women did not credit themselves less when their teammate was female (Study 3). Together these studies demonstrate that women devalue their contributions to collaborative work, and that they do so by engaging in attributional rationalization, a process sparked by women's negative performance expectations and facilitated by source ambiguity and a satisfactory "other" to whom to allocate credit.
KW - attributional rationalization
KW - gender stereotypes
KW - self-attribution
KW - self-perceptions
KW - teams
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U2 - 10.1177/0146167213486358
DO - 10.1177/0146167213486358
M3 - Article
C2 - 23653067
AN - SCOPUS:84879518339
SN - 0146-1672
VL - 39
SP - 956
EP - 969
JO - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
JF - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
IS - 7
ER -