Men have come a long way in getting in touch with their softer side. But society still prefers them to be Superman over Clark Kent!
Scientists explored the consequences for men (and women) when they acted modestly in job interviews. The applicants in the staged interviews were judged equally competent, but the "modest" males were less liked, a sign of social backlash. Modesty was viewed as a sign of weakness, a low-status character trait for males that could adversely affect their employability or earnings potential. Modesty in women, however, was not viewed negatively nor was it linked to status.
For men and women, there are things they ‘must’ and ‘must not be’. It is still expected that women must be communal and other-oriented, but they must not be dominant.
Historically and cross-culturally, men have been stereotyped as more agentic, that is, more independent and self-focused than women.
The experiments conducted showed that women are (even today) allowed to be weak while this trait is strongly prohibited in men! By contrast, dominance is reserved for men and prohibited for women. Thus, gender stereotypes are comprised of sets of rules and expectations for behaviour consist of both 'shoulds' and 'should nots' for each gender.
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