Silenced by Incivility

Kristin Bain (), Kathryn Coll, Tamar A. Kreps and Elizabeth R. Tenney
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Kristin Bain: Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology
Kathryn Coll: College of Business, University of Nevada Reno
Tamar A. Kreps: Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Elizabeth R. Tenney: David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah

Journal of Business Ethics, 2025, vol. 198, issue 1, No 6, 107-125

Abstract: Abstract Some theories suggest that women anticipate negative consequences (i.e., backlash) for counter-stereotypical actions and take steps to avoid those consequences. We propose that women may expect gender-based backlash for voicing, or contributing ideas that challenge the status quo, and thus engage in more silence (withholding those contributions) than men. However, we also propose that women anticipate gender backlash, and hence engage in more silence, only when other group members’ behavior signals that deviating from prescribed gender norms is risky. In two studies with over 3000 participants, we found that incivility increased women’s expectation that voicing would lead to gender backlash. In turn, women engaged in more silence than men in uncivil groups, but we found no gender difference in silence in civil groups. Our findings reveal that certain situations differentially alert people to interpersonal risks, thus influencing their decision to withhold contributions.

Keywords: Incivility; Voice; Silence; Gender; Backlash avoidance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05799-5

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