Wilfredo Rodriguez / Psychology / Faculty Mentor: Logan Watts
Women and people of color are underrepresented across top executive and political leadership positions in the United States. This inequity is believed to be attributed in part to a historical culture of systemic sexism and racism. A potential impact on leadership emergence is leader narratives conveyed in popular movies, which are often consumed by millions of people. This research examined if leader demographics in popular movies are related to how effective these leaders are at accomplishing their goals. The current study used content analysis and independent coders to assess the demographics of depicted leaders and their goal achievement effectiveness in 220 movies. These leaders consisted of 204 males, 16 females, 154 Whites, 32 African Americans, 2 Asians, 4 Hispanics, 1 Multiracial, 5 Others, and 22 Non-humans. The results showed that leaders’ races and genders had no significant effects on leader effectiveness. The aspect of leadership shaped by cultural influences has received insufficient attention in existing literature. This research contributes to filling this gap by exploring and adding insights to our understanding of leadership within cultural contexts. Future leadership programs can use these findings to design training that cultivates effective leadership skills and behaviors, regardless of demographic traits.
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