Male Allies: Men Convince other Men that Gender Equity Matters

Date
2017-05-26
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Abstract

Despite decades of improvement, women still face disparities in the workplace relative to men (Lyness & Heilman, 2006). In a total of four studies, I examined how men can play an important role in getting other men to endorse gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors. In Study 1, men and women read articles related to gender that have either male or female authors. The results of this study show that male respondents react more positively when the article is written by a man; however female respondents reacted similarly to both male and female authors. In Study 2, male and female sellers sold cookies for and asked for donations to support a women’s resource center, and asked customers to fill out a survey of their attitudes towards gender equity. The results of this study revealed that male customers bought more cookies and donated more money to male sellers. In Study 3, men read articles authored by men or women, and that used one of five different persuasion strategies. Results revealed that men endorsed more support for gender equity when the author was male. Also, the strategy of “highlighting male role models who support women” was the most successful strategy for persuading both men and women. In Study 4, male and female sellers sold restaurant cards to support a women’s organization using either no strategy, or highlighting male role models. Although there were no gender differences in the amount who purchased restaurant cards (less than 3% of those asked actually purchased cards), male (versus female) sellers indicted more positive feedback from potential male customers. As a whole, this research suggests that men may be more effective at getting other men to embrace gender equitable beliefs than women.

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Degree
Master of Arts
Type
Thesis
Keywords
gender equity, male allies, allies, persuasion
Citation

Trump, Rachel Christina Elizabeth. "Male Allies: Men Convince other Men that Gender Equity Matters." (2017) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/96191.

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