Working Relationships between Men and Women: Effects of Sex and Hierarchical Position on Perceptions of Self and Others in a Work Setting.

Abstract : The research reported investigated effects of sex and hierarchical position on workers' perceptions about themselves and the people with whom they worked in a sample of Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania employees. A modified version of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, with additional work-related and personal interaction items, was administered to 44 first-line supervisors and 184 of their subordinates. Self-ratings, self versus same sex peer ratings, and ratings of four target persons - a male and a female supervisor and a male and a female subordinate - were compared for male and female respondents. Ratings of supervisor versus subordinate targets were also examined. Supervisor targets were rated higher than subordinate targets of the same sex on most masculine items, and subordinate targets were rated higher than supervisor targets of the same sex on most feminine-typed items. Effects of experience working with the opposite sex were explored by comparing ratings for respondents from mixed and single sex work groups. Men who worked with women rated them higher on a wide range of attributes than did men who did not work with women. Women who worked with men rated them higher on a small number of attributes than did women who did not work with them.