Consequences of Female CEO Deception

The current study examines how CEOs differ in their propensity to use deception and the subsequent reaction to deceptive messages by analysts will vary depending on the CEO’s gender. We draw on self-concept maintenance theory to suggest that female CEOs are held to a higher ethical standard than men which, in turn, means they will use less deception during conference calls. Further, we argue and show that women receive disproportionately favorable recommendations when using deception coupled with good performance, however since deception violates their gender stereotype they will be more severely punished when using deception during poor performance.