Poshdeluxe

given the response to yesterday’s post, i’m delighted (and not surprised) to find that pants world is populated by v. polite and conscientious people. cotillion pins for everyone!

i’m gonna stick with the sociology (psychology?) theme for today’s entry, cos i was v. intrigued by this study (posted on jezebel) comparing angry men and angry women in the work place.

to quote from the jez summary:

According to science news site EurekAlert, Brescoll’s study, published in the March issue of Psychological Science, showed that “People accept and even reward men who get angry but view women who lose their temper as less competent.” The study involved showing subjects videos of male and female actors applying for a job; afterwards, the viewers were asked to rate the “applicants” on how competent they were, how much salary they deserved, and if they should be hired or not. “Both men and women in the reached the same conclusions,” notes EurekAlert, “Angry men deserved more status, a higher salary, and were expected to be better at the job than angry women,” regardless of the level of job for which the fake applicants were applying.

ok, i know this isn’t exactly shocking information, but still!

i think the part that really gets me is that the women subjects voted for the angry man, just like the male subjects. so i must ask myself, would i do the same?

if i think back to the various managers i’ve had, i recollect several experiences where i witnessed my supervisor in a state of anger. to be honest, i wanted to stay as far away from them as possible, regardless of gender. but did i think it was more acceptable for the man to lose his temper? no, actually. i didn’t.

but, as jezebel points out, women tend to cry when they’re angry. so is that where this perceived weakness comes from?

i’ve never thought of anger is a tool of power in the workplace, so if i’m in the office and my blood begins to boil, i keep it to myself (well, until i can get to my computer and send a ranting email to someone). in fact, the idea that an angry person deserves “more status” and “a higher salary” seems like CRAZY TALK to me. like, on the level of scientology.

i mean, have people even SEEN “the office”?! there’s a reason they sent andy to anger management!

because, obviously, “the office” is a pure reflection of reality. and yes, jim and pam ARE dating in real life thank you.

anyway, i always find this gender stuff pretty fascinating (if not frustrating). what do you guys think? can anger be channeled into some kind of power?

have you ever been angry at work and gotten, i dunno, a raise? a pat on the back? a pizza party?

LINKS

i am so in love with sidewalk psychiatry.

flying penguins! meredith, i think you’ve met yr april fools match!

whoah, check out the mole man.

in case you guys didn’t see it from michelle’s comment yesterday: SQUEE BABY LION!!!