Backlashes or boosts? The role of warmth and gender in relational uncertainty reductions

Abstract

Both men and women who violate gender stereotypes incur backlashes, or penalties, for these transgressions. However, men who engage in warm, communal behaviors occasionally receive a boost (or benefit) for this female-stereotyped behavior. To understand how and why warmth and gender interact to predict backlashes or boosts, we integrate uncertainty reduction theory with the stereotype content model and examine warmth by gender interactions. In our first study (a field examination of job seekers), we find that men receive a boost in hireability (i.e., an increased likelihood of obtaining a job offer) for exhibiting gender incongruent (i.e., high) levels of warmth, but women do not receive a backlash in hireability for exhibiting gender incongruent (i.e., low) levels of warmth. In our second study (a laboratory experiment), we replicate and extend these findings by elucidating why they occur: warmth reduces relational uncertainty for male, but not female, applicants. In our third study (another laboratory experiment), we again replicate and extend our findings by identifying when these effects are stronger: in male-dominated roles. Our investigation suggests that the valence of the gender stereotype violation matters when it comes to hiring decisions. Indeed, we find that displaying warmth appears to promote, rather than impede, career outcomes for men.