The First Female Effect: Why Women’s Leadership Is Essential for a More Honest and Inclusive Society

Across cultures and institutions, power has historically concentrated in male hands, not because men are inherently more capable, but because patriarchy has normalized male dominance as neutral, rational, and inevitable.

Yet growing bodies of psychological, sociological, and organizational research increasingly challenge that assumption. Evidence suggests that women’s leadership is not merely a matter of representation or fairness, but a structural necessity for healthier, more honest, and more cooperative societies.

A large meta-analysis by Gerlach et al. (2019), synthesizing data from 565 studies, found that men lied at slightly higher rates than women in experimental settings… 42% compared to 38%. While the gap is modest, its consistency across hundreds and hundreds of studies is telling. More striking is recent 2024 research on group dynamics: all-male groups were found to lie up to 35% more frequently than mixed-gender or all-female groups. Even more compelling, the presence of just one woman… the so-called “First Female Effect”… significantly increased honesty among men in the group. These findings suggest that women’s inclusion does not merely add diversity; it measurably alters ethical behavior and accountability.

Patriarchy, as a system, prioritizes hierarchy, dominance, competition, and control. It rewards aggression, suppresses emotional literacy, and frames power as something to hoard rather than share. This structure is inherently divisive, pitting genders, races, classes, and generations against one another while concentrating authority at the top. Importantly, patriarchy harms everyone: men are constrained by rigid masculinity, women are excluded or devalued, and marginalized groups are systematically suppressed.

A matriarchal or matriarch-centered system, by contrast, is not about reversing oppression or replacing male dominance with female dominance. True matriarchy emphasizes relational power, community well-being, collaboration, and long-term sustainability. Anthropological and organizational evidence consistently shows that women leaders are more likely to prioritize inclusion, transparency, social cohesion, and care-based decision-making… traits essential in an increasingly complex and polarized society.

Increasing women’s presence across leadership, governance, science, economics, and cultural institutions is not radical… it is corrective. A society shaped by more women in power would likely be less deceptive, less violent, less divisive, and more humane. In this sense, matriarchy is not a threat to democracy; it may be one of its most promising evolutions.