Can a relationship buffer women leaders against the negative consequences of anger expression?

Previous research has demonstrated that while male leaders are rewarded for expressing anger in the workplace, female leaders are punished through negative characterizations and career outcomes. However this has primarily been demonstrated in situations where there is little familiarity between the leader and the target of the anger. The purpose of the current research is to examine whether a pre-existing relationship between a leader and an employee can buffer female leaders who express anger from negative characterizations and outcomes. Participants were given scenarios in which they were depicted as employees and their manager (either a male or a female) had expressed anger at them. In addition, half of the participants were told they had a pre-existing relationship with their manager while half were told they did not know their manager well. In study 1, with a graduate student sample, a pre-existing relationship buffered female managers who expressed anger from negative characterizations and career outcomes through attributing the anger more to external factors and less to internal factors. In study 2, with a national sample of working adults, both female and male managers were buffered when expressing anger in a pre-existing relationship through attributions, however, when controlling for attributions there was still a direct effect of pre-existing relationship that buffered female managers. Also, regardless of relationship status, female leaders were seen as violating gender stereotypes when expressing anger. In addition, female participants responded more negatively to anger expression, regardless of the gender of the leader or relationship status.