When a man feels that he is not perceived as manly enough in the workplace, problems arise. This is a finding of scientists who set out to study the behavior of people in a working environment. When men feel insecure about their gender status, they tend to engage in deviant behavior much more often than women. In addition to becoming less useful in the work team and to their colleagues, they hardly cooperate in anything and can go to extremes of using lying, cheating or even stealing in the workplace. According to the authors of the study, such deviations from the generally accepted norms occur when there is doubt about the gender-related qualities with which people identify. In many societies, masculinity is seen as a status to be earned and maintained, while femininity is taken for granted. The notions of male behavior are that he is purposeful, ambitious, assertive and has individual strength. Feminine is associated with sensitivity and service to others. Scientists have tried to clarify how behavior in response to social proof in men is related to unacceptable behavior in the workplace. For this purpose, they conduct a series of studies. In the first, 186 men and women, practicing professions from various branches, participated. They filled out surveys about threats to their gender status in the workplace. Those who reported feeling threatened by their gender status were also more likely to share their harmful habits at work. This effect was much more pronounced in men than in women. In the second, 194 participants were included, who had to narrate incidents from their lives when their sense of gender identity was violated or a common occurrence. They then engaged in negotiations. The researchers found that those who shared an unpleasant incident affecting their gender status were more likely to use lying during negotiations to gain an advantage over others. In the third experiment, 131 people from an industrial equipment plant were observed. Each morning for a week, the workers were given tasks related to the second study. At the end of each workday, the men and women reported on the good things they had done, such as helping colleagues, and the negative situations, such as treating others poorly or intentionally loitering at work. The results showed that men treated their colleagues worse and were less likely to help them on days when they felt their gender status was threatened. These behavioral differences were not observed for other workplace threats. People have key needs in the workplace such as feeling autonomous, competent and communicating with others. Threats about their gender status undermine men’s sense of autonomy, prompting them to demonstrate that they are not dependent on socially accepted rules, motivational psychology scientists explain. Source:Fragile or robust? Differential effects of gender threats in the workplace among men and women – ScienceDirect