Talk is cheap: The role of (in)sincere allyship cues from men on women's identity-safety and retention at work

Four studies (N = 1554) examine whether women believe a man's allyship is sincere or not when they are exposed to new (and sometimes counter) allyship cues. These studies demonstrate that women's perceptions of a man's allyship sincerity influences whether the man is viewed as an identity-safety cue for women. Women reported a higher sense of identity-safety and likelihood of retention in a male-dominated workplace when an ally-identified man confronted (vs agreed with or ignored) sexism which was mediated by women's perceptions of the man's sincerity. An ally-identified man who ignored sexism was perceived as equally insincere and unlikely to promote women's identity-safety as an ally-identified man who agreed with a sexist comment (Study 1). Study 2 demonstrates that perceiving an ally-identified man as sincerely motivated determines his impact on women's identity-safety and retention. Studies 3–4 examine how the order in which women learn of a man's stated motivation to identify as an ally and his behavioral response to workplace sexism inform women's perceptions of the man's sincerity, hypocrisy, women's anticipated workplace treatment, and broader perceptions of the organization. These results indicate that perceived sincerity amplifies the positive effects of ally-identified men on women's identity-safety in male-dominated workplaces, whereas indications of insincerity severely undermine the extent to which ally-identified men signal identity-safety to women.