According to the sex roles congruence theory, men and women are supposed to have very different traits, and the male traits are considered to be critical for effective leadership, while the female traits are perceived as incompatible with a good leader. These sex roles stereotypes influence perceptions of leadership styles, so that when females adopt masculine leadership styles, they receive negative reactions because they violate the expectations of sex roles congruence. Based on the sex roles congruence theory, this study examined the interrelationships among leadership styles, gender, and leadership effectiveness.
A questionnaire survey was adopted for data collection of this study. The findings of the study support the sex roles congruence theory, showing that the same leadership style received a very different evaluation when it was from another gender. More results were discussed in the paper.