In this paper, the predictive power of status‐based and socialization‐based explanations of the differential rewards accruing to men and women in the corporate world are compared. Ninety‐five experienced managers were asked to evaluate persuasive dialogues between two individuals in a corporate setting. Sex of the actor, sex of the other, and the influence technique used by the actor all affected the personality traits attributed to the influential actor. Our respondents perceived influential males as significantly more powerful, higher in corporate position, and warmer than identically described females. Implications of these and other findings for both male and female managers are disc