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Big Think Quiz: Who Is Your Female Power Model?

Do you acquire power and exercise control with assertive authority like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—or do you lead with sociable consensus like media queen Oprah Winfrey? Take this Big Think quiz to find which well-known female leader your style is most like.

As female leaders have reached the highest echelons of government and business, it’s become apparent that they exercise their authority differently than men do. 


Research by Alice Eagly, a professor of social psychology at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, has identified discrete power styles—such as transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire—that are specific to women. She also has found that personal power can be identified by the degree to which it’s directed and autocratic or inclusive and democratic. 

We’ve used this data and our knowledge of the public personae of several prominent female leaders to create Big Think’s Female Power Model quiz. Leaders all use power in a variety of ways—adapting to each specific situation—yet many favor a single power style and can become known for that style.   So do you exercise your authority like former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin or like Vogue editrix Anna Wintour? Take the quiz and find out.


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