Female Bosses: Some Men Feel Threatened By Women In Power

Do men feel threatened by their female bosses? New findings published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin say yes.

Researchers found that some men acted more assertively toward female supervisors than male counterparts.

"The concept of masculinity is becoming more elusive in society as gender roles blur, with more women taking management positions and becoming the major breadwinners for their families," Ekaterina Netchaeva, lead researcher of the study, said in a statement. "Even men who support gender equality may see these advances as a threat to their masculinity, whether they consciously acknowledge it or not."

For this study in particular, researchers conducted three experiments.

The first was comprised of 76 college students, (52 male, 24 female) at a U.S. university, in which participants were told they would negotiate their salary at a new job based on a computer exercise with a male or female hiring manager.

Following negotiation, participants took an implicit threat test in which they guessed words that appeared on a screen for just a fraction of asecond. Then, they chose more threat-related words that included "fear" or "risk," that were judged based on how threatened the word(s) made them feel. 

Findings revealed that men who negotiated with a female manager showed more signs of threat for a higher salary when compared to counterparts who negotiated with a male manager for a higher salary ($49,400 average vs. $42,870 average.)

However, the manager's gender did not affect female participants, reflecting what researchers refered to as a rather common trend where women tended to be less aggressive than men in negotiations, asking for a lower salary, with averages around $41,346.

Another experiment showed how college students had to negotiate the split of a $10,000 bonus with male and female members or a supervisor. Male participants split the money evenly with male or female team members. However, men felt more threatened by a female supervisor, trying to keep more money for themselves than when a male supervisor took the lead.

Lastly, a third experiment conducted online with 370 adults (226 male, 144 female) from the United States showed that men were more receptive to female supervisors who were described as proactive and direct rather than self-promoting and power-seeking.
While men typically tried to keep a larger share of the bonus if a female manager was described as power-seeking or more ambitious, women offered roughly the same bonus, no matter the description of the manager. 

"In an ideal world, men and organizations would be concerned by these findings and adjust their behavior accordingly. But if they don't, where does that leave women?" Netchaeva added. "Given the strong societal norms surrounding masculinity, it may be difficult for men to recognize or change their behavior."

Lastly, statistics from the Labor Department reveal that women are on the same level as men when holding middle to lower management level positions. However, women are still underrepresented in senior management positions through the United States. 

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