What is mine cannot be yours: How zero-sum perceptions of power and status shape men's perceptions of ingroup harm from women's hierarchical advancement.

Abstract

Although men's support is crucial to facilitating women's advancement within social and organizational hierarchies, research finds that men may perceive women's hierarchical advancement as harmful to their ingroup (i.e., in zero-sum terms). Given hierarchies are composed of two distinct bases-power (control over resources) and status (respect from others)-it is presently unknown whether power is perceived as more zero-sum than status and whether men's perceived ingroup harm differs depending on whether women are gaining power or status. Five preregistered studies (N = 2,899) investigate these questions and examine how perceived ingroup harm mediates downstream consequences in political and organizational domains. Power was viewed as more zero-sum than status (Study 1). Men perceived more ingroup harm from women's gains in power versus status, while women's perceptions of ingroup benefit did not differ across power and status (Study 2). Learning of women's gains in power increased men's political conservatism, serially mediated by zero-sum perceptions of hierarchy and perceived ingroup harm (Study 3). Men were less supportive of a diversity initiative framed as increasing women's power versus status, with perceived ingroup harm again serving as the mediator (Study 4). Notably, reducing the perceived zero-sumness of the initiative eliminated the difference in ingroup harm from women's gains in power (vs. status). Men donated less money when a nonprofit organization's mission emphasized increasing women's power (vs. status; Study 5). These findings advance our theoretical understanding of social hierarchies and intergroup dynamics by revealing how women's gains in power versus status elicit resistance from men. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).