So you think you are an ally? Effects of (in)congruence between men's self-perceptions and women's perceptions of men’s values and allyship on women's inclusion and vitality

Abstract

As public consciousness of sexism is increasing in the workplace (e.g., #MeToo movement), labeling oneself as an ally (e.g., UN HeforShe campaign) is becoming more socially desirable for men. However, do women agree with such men in their assessments of being allies? In particular, how do women’s perspectives of men’s allyship affect their own inclusion-relevant outcomes? Using a multi-informant design and data from 101 men-women colleague pairs, this study considered men’s self-perceptions and women’s other-reports of men’s key allyship-relevant characteristics - justice, moral courage, emotional intelligence, civility, and allyship. Polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed differential impacts of (in)congruence between men’s and women’s perceptions on women’s sense of inclusion and vitality. Simply, when women perceived men as higher (or the same) in justice, moral courage, emotional intelligence, and civility than men reported themselves, it positively predicted women’s outcomes. This suggests that humble self-presentation by men on characteristics that are parallel to allyship (but not allyship) may be ideal. Yet, both under- and over-estimation by men on allyship itself predicted poorer outcomes for women, suggesting that the ideal is for men to have an accurate assessment of their own strengths and weaknesses as an ally.

“If you want to be an ally, what is stopping you?” Mapping the landscape of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual barriers to allyship in the workplace using ecological systems theory

“…We speculate that a sizable portion of those who responded 'no barriers' either lack interest in allyship (nothing can be a barrier to a goal that is not pursued), or they may think interest alone is enough to count as an ally. This latter point fits with previous arguments that many people view their allyship interest, intention, and social justice values as reason enough to label themselves as allies, even if they do not engage in concrete and effective allyship action (Patton & Bondi, 2015;Warren & Schwam, 2022). Such individuals may not perceive any barriers preventing them from feeling like allies.…”

“…Given these considerable obstacles, even expert allies with executive power tend to second guess whether and how they should enact allyship while preserving long-standing relationships with others in the organization . Engaging in only subtle acts of intervention in order to mitigate risk could render allyship invisible and ineffective (Warren & Schwam, 2022). For an individual committed to the allyship journey, navigating this complex and treacherous process can take a long time wherein they need to regularly become sensitized to various inequities, learn how to courageously yet prudently enact allyship, and patiently persevere on the path of allyship .…”

How can I lead social change when I feel like a fake? Exploring the impostor phenomenon among social justice allies in the workplace

“…When new incidents of discrimination occur in one's work environment, even witnesses may experience considerable distress (see vicarious mistreatment; Dhanani et al, 2018;Dhanani & LaPalme, 2019), and their desire to stand up as allies may be strengthened (Warren, Winkelman, & Waldrop, 2022). Yet, despite claims of best intentions to be allies, far fewer individuals engage in concrete allyship action (Connley, 2020;Grant, 2014), particularly, according to the targets of injustice Warren & Schwam, 2022). In the present paper, we propose that feelings of impostorisma faulty belief system centered on 'feeling like a fake' - (Clance, 1985) exists among many allies, undermining allyship action and posing risks to their own mental health and work functioning.…”

Highlighting strengths in response to discrimination: Developing and testing an allyship positive psychology intervention

“…This difference may be particularly meaningful in the distress-producing context of discrimination. 2 The relevance and use of similar adaptations to measure vitality and inclusion as outcomes of an allyship relationship have been demonstrated across multiple studies (e.g., Warren & Schwam, 2021;Warren, Sekhon et al, 2021).…”