Gender, legitimation, and identity verification in groups

Drawing upon identity theory, expectation states theory, and legitimation theory, we examine how the task leader identity in task-oriented groups is more likely to be verified for persons with high status characteristics. We hypothesize that identity verification will be accomplished more readily for male group members and legitimated task leaders than female group members and those who are not legitimated. We found that there is an interaction of gender and legitimation on identity verification. Legitimated female leaders and nonlegitimated males had higher levels of identity verification. Further examination revealed that legitimated male leaders were consistently overevaluated in the amount of their leadership relative to their own identity standards, while non-legitimated female leaders' leadership behavior was consistently underevaluated relative to their own identity standards. The implications of our findings for the study of identity verification and social structural processes are discussed.