Still Women Help Women? Gender Congruence, Social Stereotypes, and Street-Level Discretionary Decision-Making

How female street-level bureaucrats navigate decisions involving socially stigmatized female clients lies at the intersection of a theoretical debate between representative bureaucracy and street-level stereotyping research. It also reflects a practical dilemma stemming from regulatory gaps in China’s online-to-offline (O2O) massage apps that compel frontline workers to adjudicate ambiguous disputes involving suspected sexual assault or sex work. Using a within-subject vignette experiment with 679 Chinese bureaucrats, this study examines how gender congruence and social stereotypes interact to shape discretionary decisions in high-discretion contexts. Findings reveal that gender congruence outweighs social stereotypes in shaping female bureaucrats’ decisions regarding stigmatized female massage therapists, suggesting that shared demographic traits foster supportive interactions (representation) even as they are counteracted by stigmatizing stereotypes (discrimination). These results highlight the role of individual-level discretion in protecting vulnerable groups and promoting social equity within regulatory gray areas, underscoring the need for more representative, socioculturally aware street-level bureaucracies.