Men concerned about masculinity are less forgiving
October 22, 2024
Ellen Phiddian
Cosmos science journalist
A US study has found men who are more concerned about seeming masculine are less likely to forgive transgressions at work.
The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
According to the researchers, theres evidence that men are generally less forgiving than women, and people who forgive more frequently tend to have more feminine traits.
So, we hypothesised that forgiveness carries some gendered implications, and perhaps people who forgive are perceived as more feminine and less masculine, says co-author Associate Professor Michael Haselhuhn, a researcher in management at the University of California Riverside, USA.
And if thats the case, men who are really concerned about appearing like real men should be the people who are least likely to forgive.
The team ran 4 different studies, each on groups of between 100-300 people, aiming to test mens sense of masculinity and their willingness to forgive transgressions in the workplace like missing an important meeting.
More:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/behaviour/masculinity-forgiveness-management/