Princess Bee Effect: The Reverse Queen Bee Phenomenon

Accumulated research has found a surprising but consistent effect of gender bias in masculine organizational cultures: female leaders in male dominated environments often disassociate from their gender identity and perceive and behave more critically towards female rather than male subordinates (termed the Queen Bee effect). In this paper, we consider how female subordinates respond to these unsupportive female leaders (termed the Princess Bee effect) as opposed to more supportive female leaders. Drawing on research on social identity, gender, and leadership, we predict that female subordinates distance themselves from female leaders engaging in Queen Bee behavior by differentiating themselves from their leader (e.g., they project warmth). Across two studies we found support for our prediction that women distance themselves from female leaders engaging in Queen Bee behavior. Importantly, these responses were found to have a detrimental impact on these female subordinates by reducing their desire to assume leadership roles as well as making them less prototypical of a leader. Our work contributes to gender research by highlighting this Princess Bee phenomenon and its impact on the workplace and offers applications for managing the mobility of women in male-dominated industries.