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Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Restricted Thesis: Campus only access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Crystal L. Hoyt

Abstract

Agency and communion are two dimensions of social cognition that have been empirically linked to leadership and leadership self-selection. While agentic traits are typically associated with leadership, and both agency and leadership are associated with male gender identity, existing literature suggests that followers prefer their leaders to exhibit communal traits. The present study aims to fill a gap in the literature by attempting to experimentally manipulate self-perceptions of agency in a way that causes individuals to claim a leadership opportunity they otherwise may not have. Our results indicate that, while our manipulation was not effective at influencing self-perceptions, self-perceived agency and male gender identity predict leadership claiming. Our exploratory mediation analysis suggests that when controlling for self-perceived communion, self-perceived agency helps explain why men are more likely to claim leadership opportunities than women, though it does not encapsulate the whole story. This study contributes to the existing body of literature by confirming previous findings that agency robustly predicts leadership claiming–as does male gender, to a lesser degree–and that communion-oriented individuals are less likely to opt into a leadership opportunity. Given trends in reluctance to lead and our preference for communal traits in leaders, future research should aim to develop an effective and persuasive feedback intervention and identify potential mechanisms that link selfperceived communion to leadership or female gender identity.

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