Abstract Followers are assumed to use implicit leader prototypes when evaluating leader behavior. Cross‐cultural theorists suggest that these leader prototypes are influenced by national culture. To test this relationship, the present study examined leader prototypes in a cross‐cultural study with Danish and American participants. These two cultures have been found to differ significantly on two major cultural dimensions: individualism and masculinity. It was expected that individuals would rate a leader candidate that matched their own culture as more effective and more collegial than a leader that did not match. Unexpectedly, the highest leader ratings were not in conditions with a cultural match between participants and leader candidate. Rather, both cultures saw feminine leaders as most collegial and feminine‐individualistic leaders as most effective.
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