Management scholars have long examined gender disparities in leaders’ communication and followers’ reactions. There is, however, a paucity of research that takes an intersectional perspective. This article takes that step, using an intersectional lens to examine women leaders’ use of dominant language and how others receive it. Leveraging advances in natural-language processing, I analyzed the stereotype content of more than 250,000 Congressional remarks (Study 1) and almost one million tweets (Study 2) by leaders. Women leaders referenced dominance more than men did (using more words like “powerful”), violating stereotypes that depict women as submissive. However, as theory on racialized gender stereotypes suggests, this effect was unique to White leaders. Two additional studies revealed backlash to women leaders’ use of dominant language. Analyzing almost 18,000 editorials revealed the more that women leaders referenced dominance, the more they were portrayed as dominant but also cold. Effects were strongest for Black and Latina women (Study 3). Finally, an experiment using simulated social media profiles found the more that Black women (but not men) leaders referenced dominance, the more voters rated them as less likeable, a result that was unique to Black leaders (Study 4). The article demonstrates the critical importance of intersectionality for understanding gender inequality in leaders’ communication and its reception by the media and the public.

中文翻译：

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领导者的话：交叉性对于理解女性领导者使用主导语言以及其他人如何接受它的重要性

管理学者长期以来一直在研究领导者沟通和追随者反应中的性别差异。然而，缺乏交叉视角的研究。本文采取了这一步，使用交叉镜头来研究女性领导者对主导语言的使用以及其他人如何接受它。利用自然语言处理方面的进步，我分析了超过 250,000 条国会言论（研究 1）和近 100 万条领导人推文（研究 2）的刻板印象内容。女性领导者比男性更多地提到主导地位（使用更多“强大”等词），违反了将女性描绘成顺从的刻板印象。然而，正如种族化性别刻板印象理论所表明的那样，这种效应是白人领导人所独有的。另外两项研究显示，女性领导人使用主导语言遭到强烈反对。对近 18,000 篇社论的分析显示，女性领导人越多地提到统治地位，她们就越被描绘成统治地位但又冷酷无情。对黑人和拉丁裔女性的影响最强（研究 3）。最后，一项使用模拟社交媒体资料的实验发现，黑人女性（而非男性）领导人越多地提及主导地位，就越多的选民认为她们不太讨人喜欢，这是黑人领导人独有的结果（研究 4）。本文论证了交叉性对于理解领导人沟通中的性别不平等及其媒体和公众接受度的至关重要性。