Women tend to downplay their gender in workplaces with masculinity contest cultures

A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology has found that workplace cultures focused on ruthless competition and dominance can cause women to distance themselves from their gender group. The findings suggest that when organizational norms glorify masculine traits, women tend to feel that their social identity is less valued. As a coping mechanism, they may hide or downplay their gender to fit in.

The authors of the new study aimed to understand why women in male-dominated fields often manage their identity by disassociating from other women. To do this, they focused on a concept known as “masculinity contest culture.” This term describes organizational environments that prize dog-eat-dog competition, physical or emotional toughness, and a refusal to show vulnerability. In these settings, traits typically associated with masculinity are treated as the standard for success.

“This study was motivated by a gap in how researchers understand subtle forms of workplace bias beyond overt discrimination. While prior work has shown that women sometimes distance themselves from other women after experiencing direct gender discrimination, we knew much less about whether workplace cultures themselves (particularly those that reward traditionally masculine norms) could produce similar effects,” said study author Jenny Veldman, an assistant professor at Utrecht University

“We wanted to examine whether simply working in a masculinity contest culture, even in the absence of explicit discriminatory acts, could make women feel that their gender identity is devalued and lead them to distance themselves from that identity. This is a real-world issue because many organizations implicitly reward competitiveness, dominance, and toughness, which may quietly undermine women’s sense of status and belonging at work.”

Veldman and her co-author, Andrea C. Vial, reasoned that such an environment implicitly signals that being female is associated with lower status. Previous research has often looked at how women respond to personal experiences of sexism. Veldman and Vial wanted to see if the workplace culture itself could trigger identity distancing, even without specific acts of discrimination. They proposed that women engage in “self-group distancing” to protect their personal status in environments where their group is devalued.

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The researchers tested their hypotheses across four separate studies. In Study 1, they recruited 1,687 adults from the United States through an online platform. The participants were asked to imagine they were looking for a job and had inquired about the work environment at a hypothetical company. They were randomly assigned to read a response that described either a strong masculinity contest culture or a weak one.

The strong contest culture was described using phrases about a “sink or swim” atmosphere where admitting a lack of knowledge looks like weakness. The weak contest culture was described as an environment where seeking advice is acceptable. The researchers then measured self-group distancing in a novel way. They asked participants to choose an avatar to represent themselves in a virtual work environment. The options included male silhouettes, female silhouettes, and gender-neutral objects.

The data indicated that women were more likely to conceal their gender in the strong masculinity contest culture. Specifically, women in this condition were twice as likely to choose a gender-neutral avatar compared to those in the weak contest condition. Women also reported a stronger intention to try to hide their gender if they worked there. Men did not change their avatar choice or identity presentation based on the workplace culture.

In Study 2, the researchers sought to replicate these findings with real-world employees. They recruited a stratified sample of 612 adults employed across various industries in the United States. The sample included equal numbers of men and women working in majority-male, majority-female, and gender-balanced fields. This design allowed the authors to verify if the effects were driven by the culture itself rather than just the number of men in the workplace.

Participants rated how much their current workplace resembled a masculinity contest. They answered questions about whether the environment was dog-eat-dog or if expressing vulnerability was punished. They also completed surveys measuring how much they engaged in self-group distancing, such as trying to divert attention away from their gender.

The results showed a correlation between perceiving a masculinity contest culture and engaging in self-group distancing. This connection existed for women but not for men. The analysis also suggested a specific psychological path for this behavior. Women who perceived a strong masculinity contest reported feeling lower personal status at work. This reduced sense of status was statistically linked to their tendency to distance themselves from their gender group.

Study 3 was designed to examine the underlying mechanism of status devaluation. The researchers recruited 816 participants online and presented them with the hypothetical company scenarios used in the first study. They included a control condition with no specific cultural information. The participants were asked to estimate the level of respect and admiration that different groups of employees would receive in that company.

The participants inferred that female employees would elicit lower status than male employees in the company with the strong masculinity contest culture. This estimated status gap was much larger than in the weak contest or control conditions. For female participants, the belief that their gender group was devalued was associated with anticipating lower personal respect for themselves. This supports the idea that women’s personal status is tied to how the organization values their group.

Finally, Study 4 tested whether boosting the status of the female group could reduce distancing behaviors. The researchers recruited 840 participants and presented them all with a description of a workplace with a strong masculinity contest culture. However, they manipulated the perceived status of women within that specific environment.

Participants viewed a chart ostensibly showing results from an employee satisfaction survey. Half the participants saw data indicating that female employees felt much less respected than male employees. The other half saw data indicating that female employees felt just as respected as their male colleagues.

When women saw that female employees were respected despite the aggressive culture, they were less likely to distance themselves from their gender group. The gender gap in self-group distancing, which was large in the low-status condition, shrank in the high-status condition. This provides evidence that the devaluation of the female identity is the specific driver of the distancing behavior. Lifting the status of the group reduced the need for individual women to hide who they are.

“The key takeaway is that workplace cultures that emphasize aggressive competition and masculine norms can unintentionally signal that women are less valued, even without overt discrimination,” Veldman told PsyPost. “In response, women may cope by distancing themselves from their gender group (for example, by downplaying their gender or avoiding association with other women) in order to fit in or be taken seriously.”

“Importantly, this response can come at a personal cost, reducing feelings of authenticity and belonging, and it can also undermine broader efforts to promote inclusion and gender equality. Our findings suggest that improving workplace culture itself, and not just addressing blatant bias, is critical for creating environments where everyone can thrive.”

One limitation of the research is that it relied partly on hypothetical scenarios and self-reported data. While the experimental design allows for causal inferences, real-world behavior is complex. Additionally, the study focused on a binary understanding of gender. It did not explore how non-binary or transgender individuals might navigate these environments, though the authors suspect they would face similar pressures to conceal their identities.

Future research could investigate how race and ethnicity intersect with these dynamics. For instance, women of color might face a “double jeopardy” that compounds the pressure to distance themselves from their identities. Researchers might also examine whether these cultures encourage men to engage in performative masculine behaviors to prove their worth.

The study, “Masculinity contest cultures lead to self-group distancing in women,” was authored by Jenny Veldman and Andrea C. Vial.