Introduction

1. Figure 1. Photographs and description shown to participants. Jane/John is a real estate agent who has been employed with her/his company for five years. She/He graduated from college with an average grade point average. Jane/John is hardly ever late for her/ his work and sells fairly a high amount of real estate making a descent salary. Jane/John is on the left speaking to her secretary about the sale that she/he will take on soon. Figure 2. Interpersonal and task-oriented leadership by eye contact condition. The Effects of Eye Contact and Gender on Leadership PerceptionKristy FeddeMinnesota State University Moorhead • Results • A 2 (eye contact: eye contact vs. no eye contact) x 2 (gender: male vs. female) between measures ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The dependent variable was the rating on interpersonal and task-oriented leadership. • Interpersonal Leadership Results • Eye contact was a significant factor in determining interpersonal leadership orientation (p = .001), while gender was not (p = .30). • Task-oriented Leadership Results • Eye contact was a significant factor in determining task-oriented leadership orientation (p = .006) and gender was also not significant (p = .54). • Introduction • Leadership styles are classified based on the degree to which the leader is involved with interpersonal related issues or task related issues (Luthar, 1996). • Task-oriented leaders display more directive and controlling leadership styles and enjoy a more competitive environment (Anderson, Lievens, Dam, & Born, 2006). • Interpersonal-oriented leaders allow subordinates to be more involved in the decision making process by being friendly, helpful, and encouraging to subordinates (Luthar, 1996). • According to Moss, Barbuto, Matkin, and Chin (2005), women were more likely to use a interpersonal-oriented leadership style, where as men were more likely to use a task-oriented leadership style. • Eye contact can relate to many variables from intimacy to dominance on a leadership spectrum (Burroughs, Schultz, & Autrey, 1973). • Discussion • When eye contact was maintained, the person in the photograph was perceived higher on both interpersonal and task-oriented leadership. • Gender was not significant in determining any types of leadership orientation. • The results are consistent with Brooks, Church, and Fraser (1985), which concluded that people that maintain eye contact will be rated higher task-oriented leadership. • Future research should include how males and females are perceived in different leadership situations or positions. • Hypotheses • It was hypothesized that males would be rated higher as task-oriented leaders and females would be rated higher as interpersonal-oriented leaders. • Furthermore, it was hypothesized the models that maintained eye contact would be considered better interpersonal-oriented leaders compared to the models that did not maintain this eye contact. • Method • Fifty-six students (18 males and 38 females) were participants. • The materials consists of 4 different photographs, which varied by gender and eye contact, along with a description of their current job and brief educational history. (see Figure 1). • The scale that was used to measure leadership orientation was adapted from the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid Questionnaire. The scale ranged from from 0 (Never) to 5 (Always) in this study. • Participants viewed one on of the photographs and rated the person on the dimensions of leadership orientation. References Anderson, N., Lievens, F., Dam, K.V., & Born, M. (2006). A construct-driven investigation of gender differences in a leadership-role assessment center. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 555-566. Brooks, C., Church, M., Fraser, L. (1985). Effects of duration of eye contact on judgments of personality characteristics. The Journal of Social Psychology, 126(1), 71-78. Burroughs, W., Schultz, W., Autrey, S. (1973). Quality of argument, leadership votes, and eye contact in three-person leaderless groups. The Journal of Social Psychology, 90, 89-93. Luthar, H. (1996). Gender difference in evaluation of performance and leadership ability: Task oriented vs. democratic managers. Sex Roles, 35(5/6), 337-361. Moss, J.A., Barbuto, JR., Matkin, G.S., & Chin, T. (2005). Influence of sex differences in leaders' behavior. Psychological Reports, 96(2), 499-510.