Research: Female Leaders ‘More Stingy’ Than Male Leaders in Sharing Rewards with Collaborators

According to the research, more high-ranking men are willing to reward their collaborators than high-ranking women, reveals Psy Post.

From early childhood, girls establish better friendships with same-sex peers of equal status, while boys are more willing to cooperate with same-sex peers of different statuses.

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Researchers studied 50 adults at psychology colleges across the U.S. and Canada and found that male professors are more likely to agree to collaborate with same-sex assistants than women. When it comes to collaborating with other same-sex professors, women were equally willing to collaborate as men.

During three studies involving 187 male and 188 female participants, researchers found that higher-status men invest more in collaborative relationships than women. In the first study, participants were told they were the most or least influential person in the group. They were then asked how likely they would be to share their hypothetical reward with a partner of different competencies who helped them achieve the reward.

In the second and third studies, the hypothetical reward was replaced with a small cash prize. Participants were told they were the group leader and had to share the prize they won among their partners. In all experiments, partners were same-sex participants.

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In conclusion, the research stated that women need to learn to share with lower-ranking members of the same sex. It was also revealed that men have a natural tendency to strengthen the group, which could help them advance in hierarchical organizations.

Researchers believe that women should collaborate to contribute their unique perspectives to the world, which requires more cooperation among women.