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This thesis consists of two studies together with a preliminary study, focusing on the issue of ingroup representation of the &uuml / lk&uuml / c&uuml / group. The first study, addressing the problems of stereotype content, stereotype accuracy, and stereotype consensus, was based on in-depth interviewing with twenty members of the &uuml / lk&uuml / c&uuml / group. It was hypothesized that the group members, when their social identities were salient, would locate the ingroup within a chronic way of looking at the world, namely the perceived context. The accuracy of stereotypes and the stereotype consensus commonly observed among group members depended upon the efficiency of this perceived context as an explanation. Moreover, the favorability of stereotype content also derived heavily from this perceived context. The second study, based on two hundreds &uuml / lk&uuml / c&uuml / group members, examined the effects of target group (ingroup, close outgroup, distant outgroup), type of attributes (favorable, unfavorable), comparative context (intragroup, intergroup with close outgroup, intergroup with distant outgroup, multigroup), and level of identification with the ingroup (high-identifiers, low-identifiers) on the perceptions of homogeneity. A number of hypotheses were tested and the following results were found: First, group members perceived the ingroup as more positively homogeneous than both the close and the distant outgroup. Moreover, the close outgroup was perceived as more positively homogeneous than the distant outgroup. In fact, the distant outgroup was perceived as negatively homogeneous. Second, group members perceived both the ingroup and the close outgroup as more positively homogeneous in terms of unfavorable attributes than in terms of favorable ones. On the contrary, they tended to perceive the distant outgroup as more negatively homogeneous in terms of favorable attributes than in terms of unfavorable ones. Third, the above perceptions were less accentuated in the intragroup context, while they were more accentuated in the multigroup context. Fourth, the above perceptions were more accentuated for the high-identifiers than for the low-identifiers. Apart from these main effects, a number of complicated interactions were also discovered and these results were discussed with reference to the relevant literature.

After breaking through the glass ceiling, women often obtain precarious or risky leadership positions in crisis-ridden organizations (the glass cliff; Ryan & Haslam, 2005). Due to women’s minority status, their appointment in a crisis can signal important changes to organizational stakeholders indicating the use of new strategies for overcoming the crisis (signaling theory; Spence, 1973). Our study examines whether the media visibility of organizations moderates these signaling effects in ways that either strengthen or weaken glass cliffs. We augmented the archival dataset used by Haslam et al. (2010) in which the glass cliff phenomenon was discovered by including data on the media coverage that the Financial Times Stock Exchange index 100 companies received between 2001 and 2005. Our analysis shows that glass cliffs were more pronounced in companies with low media visibility. This suggests that the media visibility of organizations can contribute to increased accountability regarding their personnel decisions in ways that expose women leaders to less discrimination. / Nachdem sie die gläserne Decke durchbrechen, erreichen Frauen oft unsichere und riskante Führungspositionen in krisengeschüttelten Organisationen (gläserne Klippe oder Glass Cliffs; Ryan & Haslam, 2005). Nach der Signaltheorie (Signaling Theory; Spence, 1973) kann die Ernennung von Frauen in Krisenzeiten aufgrund ihrer Seltenheit Stakeholdern grundlegende Veränderungen bezüglich kritischer Probleme ankündigen. Wir untersuchen die Möglickeit, dass die mediale Sichtbarkeit von Organisationen Glass Cliffs moderiert – also verstärkt oder abschwächt. Können medial sichtbare Unternehmen wirksamere Signale senden oder stehen sie stärker unter Beobachtung? Hierfür wurde der Archivdatensatz von Haslam et al. (2010) um die Medienberichterstattung erweitert, die FTSE100-Unternehmen zwischen den Jahren 2001 und 2005 erhielten. Unsere Analyse zeigt, dass Glass Cliffs bei Unternehmen mit geringer medialer Sichtbarkeit stärker ausgeprägt waren. Dieser Befund zeigt, dass die medialer Sichtbarkeit von Organisationen zu einer höheren Verantwortlichkeit bei Personalentscheidungen beitragen kann, so dass weibliche Führungskräfte weniger diskriminiert werden.