Male Modesty Considered a Weakness

Although it is more politically correct to be a bit modest, men are rather expected to be confident and maybe a bit macho, in America. In the 21st century some “too modest” men might actually be penalized in their careers.

A scientific study was carried out by researchers at Rutgers' Department of Psychology on 132 female and 100 male volunteer students, who watched videotaped 15-minutes job interviews of males and females candidates. All job-seekers were actually actors that were told to give similar “modest” answers, as they were supposed to apply for a position that needed strong technical abilities and social skills.

Researchers wanted to find out which behavior would have repercussions as Corinne A. Moss-Racusin, a doctoral candidate in Rutgers' Department of Psychology and study co-author, says that: “Women are 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 four sets of rules and expectations for behavior consist of both 'shoulds' and 'should nots' for each gender.”

The experiment did not trigger men discrimination as scientists expected, but Moss-Racusin speculates that this is caused by men's higher status compared to women, which allows modest men the benefit of doubt and are more easily accepted that dominant women.

According to Moss-Racusin, the applicants in the filmed 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,” she says. “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.”

This study was a collaboration between Corinne A. Moss-Racusin, graduate fellow Julie E. Phelan and Professor Laurie A. Rudman. “When Men Break the Gender Rules: Status Incongruity and Backlash Against Modest Men” was published in the journal Psychology of Men and Masculinity.