The `equal-opportunity jerk' defense: Rudeness can obfuscate gender bias


Date:
March 8, 2022
Source:
Association for Psychological Science
Summary:
If you're an 'equal-opportunity jerk,' does that mean you can't
also be sexist? New research shows that many people think so -- and
consider men to be gender blind when they're rude, condescending,
and berating to women and men equally.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
If you're an "equal-opportunity jerk," does that mean you can't also
be sexist? New research shows that many people think so -- and consider
men to be gender blind when they're rude, condescending, and berating
to women and men equally. 

==========================================================================
To highlight the common view that men aren't deemed sexist when they're
rude to both men and women, researchers asked subjects to share their perceptions of tweets from former President Donald Trump lambasting
men and women, fictitious stories of managers' treatment of male and
female employees, and surveys of sexist behavior.  According to
the study, being a jerk to men creates "an illusion of impartiality,
giving sexist perpetrators plausible deniability." This can lead people
to falsely conclude that gender bias doesn't underlie rude behavior,
making them less likely to recognize sexism.  "We found that a
man does not seem sexist if he treats everyone -- both men and women
-- poorly," said Peter Belmi, associate professor of leadership and organizational behavior at the University of Virginia Darden School of
Business and lead author of the study. "This is problematic because
sexism and rudeness are not mutually exclusive. Men who are sexist
can be -- and often are -- rude toward other men." The research shows
that gender blindness can be exploited to refute accusations of sexism,
he added. For example, perpetrators may highlight instances in which
they've been rude to men as evidence that they aren't sexist. 
A popular understanding of sexism is discrimination toward women based
solely on their sex. Under this definition, a man would not be sexist
if he were a jerk to both sexes. The researchers defined sexism more
broadly, however, as attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors that reflect,
foster, or promote negative or pejorative stereotypes about women.



==========================================================================
"Men may believe that rather than 'supporting women,' an alternative
solution to creating gender parity is to 'treat everyone horribly,'"
Belmi added.  He emphasized that previous research has focused
on gender blindness's benefit in fostering workplace gender diversity
and inclusion. The current study highlights the shortcomings of this ideology.  The researchers conducted a series of studies, using
online participants and students from professional schools, to determine whether sexism is tougher to recognize when men express rudeness to other
men as well as women.  A two-part survey of about 1,100 employed men measured their self-reported rudeness toward male and female colleagues
at work and their attitudes and beliefs about women.  Another study
asked participants to read tweets written by Trump during his presidency
that contained sexist comments about women; some participants also read
tweets that berated men.  Next, the researchers asked participants
to read a series of stories, some about managers making sexist comments
to female workers and others about managers speaking rudely to male subordinates, too. Participants were also asked to identify whether
those managers needed gender-bias and anger- management training. 


==========================================================================
In each experiment, participants failed to recognize sexism when the perpetrator was rude or berating to men. However, they identified
sexist behavior when only women were treated poorly. In other words,
"equal- opportunity jerks" were viewed as gender blind. Also, the
more participants perceived an offender being a jerk to other men, the
more they diminished the need for gender-bias training.  "When
a sexist manager is rude toward men, it may appear as though he is not
sexist," Belmi said. "Thus, women victimized by his behavior will have
a more difficult time proving that he is sexist. Rudeness can therefore
protect perpetrators." The findings show that rudeness across genders
creates a barrier to addressing sexism. The researchers suggested that
future studies should examine whether rudeness can conceal other types
of discrimination -- for example, by creating illusions of colorblindness
or authenticity.

"Blatant, unambiguous, and obvious forms of sexist conduct continue
to exist," Belmi said. "Our findings suggest that one reason for their persistence is that observers may not recognize that everyday acts of
rudeness can serve as a convenient mask for bias against women." 

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Association_for_Psychological_Science. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Peter Belmi, Sora Jun, Gabrielle S. Adams. The "Equal-Opportunity
Jerk"
Defense: Rudeness Can Obfuscate Gender Bias. Psychological Science,
2022; 095679762110404 DOI: 10.1177/09567976211040495 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220308155647.htm

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