Woman Anger Bad. Man Anger Good.

April 5, 2008

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Isn’t this so true. In the workplace women who lose their temper are considered emotional and less competent whereas men are considered to be strong and competent. Also true is that women who are more aggressive in their pursuit of advancement at work are considered bitches. On the other hand a more aggressive man is considered a go-getter.

In a new study, videos were made of actors applying for jobs. The actors were told to be angry. The video applications were viewed by the participants of the test. The participants were told to rate the applicants on their competence, how much responsibility they should be given, whether they should be hired and how much salary they should be paid.

photo credit: hownowdesign

Both men and women reached the same conclusions: Angry men deserved more status, a higher salary, and were expected to be better at the job than angry women.

Videos of actors that were either angry or emotionally neutral were also shown. For the emotionally neutral, the disparity in the perceptions of the male and female candidates were eliminated.

The study was reported in Science Daily.

It seems that we are all hard wired for primitive society where men are tough and go out and fight and hunt and the women do all the menial work and nurturing.

So how are women to go out and get what they want effectively? How can women be firm and not back down without generate negative feelings in those with whom they interact? Damned if I know. Wish I did.