When Courtesy Fails: Gender Roles and Polite Behaviors

1. When Courtesy Fails: Gender Roles and Polite Behaviors Amanda Douglas Tatiana Hughes Alex Fernandez Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

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3. Introduction • In helping behaviors: Men engage in more active and intervening behaviors that are labeled as chivalrous and heroic. While women are more likely to defer to implicit or explicit needs of others. • Therefore, these actions are seen as more masculine or feminine and might serve to perpetuate gender role expectations. • Traditional courteous behaviors can be interpreted in two ways: the desire to help with a level of respect for the person OR to establish dominance over the other person. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

4. Hypotheses • Research Question: How males and females react to traditional courteous behaviors if performed by a man or a role reversal, by a woman. • Since some courteous behaviors indicate a competence and power discrepancy, these gestures might be seen as condescending rather than seen as courteous. • Since such behaviors reinforce masculinity and femininity, they will be viewed as less courteous when directed by a woman to a man rather than vice versa. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

5. Hypotheses • Due to women’s ability to decipher the status differentials these courtesies represent, they are more likely to see men resenting these behaviors when they are performed by females. • If these acts are gender-stereotyped, the person with a gender-neutral name who opened the door for someone would be assumed to be male, and the recipient of this kind act would be assumed to be female. • If these acts are gender-stereotyped, the person with a gender-neutral name who opened the door for someone would be assumed to be male, and the recipient of this kind act would be assumed to be female. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

6. Methods • 284 University students, 49% males & 51% females between the ages of 17-57 • Participants filled out a three page anonymous questionnaire. (random assignment involved) • The questionnaires involved scenarios, and within the questionnaire, half of the time they were describing males being courteous to females, and the other half they described the reverse. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

7. Methods continued.. • Following the scenarios, the participants were asked to answer questions with regard to the character’s level of courtesy. The answers were based on a 5-point scale ranging from not at all, 1, to very, 5. • Participants also given a scenario to read in which the names were gender-neutral. Following this scenario, participants were asked whether they viewed the helper and recipient as male or female. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

8. Results • Sometimes courtesy fails: sometimes subjects interpret acts of kindness as patronizing and condescending. • Evaluation of courteous behaviors still linked to gender; as predicted there were tendencies to expect females to be more grateful to males than males to females. • Some confirmation that courteous behaviors rated more positively when performed by a male. • Females more likely to receive recent courtesy from males, while males more likely to receive most recent act of courtesy from another male. • These findings suggest that courtesy behaviors perpetuate traditional gender roles and regulate relationships between males and females. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

9. Critical Review (likes) • Clearly define objectives of the study. • All the subjects were randomly assigned to conditions by means of randomly ordered questionnaires strong internal validity • Even amount of males and females also helps with internal validity. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

10. Critical Review (dislikes) • Due to the questionnaire’s length, it’s possible that participants randomly chose answers due to their loss of interest with the questionnaire. • Due to the lengthy results, it was hard to sort through their findings. • One variable they could have measured is sexual orientation and see if that makes a difference in perception of courtesy behaviors. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

11. Quiz • T/F: A purpose of the study was to determine how males and females react to courteous behaviors performed by other males and females. • T/F: Women tend to engage in more active and intervening behaviors that are labeled as chivalrous and heroic. • T/F: Those who visualized the helper as male would interpret the behavior more negatively than those who imagined the helper to be female. Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.

12. Quiz • Some participants interpret acts of kindness as a.) patronizing b.) condescending c.) courteous d.) all of the above Which of the following scenarios was NOT included? a.) man opening car door for a woman b.) man giving his seat to a woman carrying a lot c.) man laying down his jacket over a puddle for a woman Which of the following was NOT one of the findings? a.) sometimes courtesy fails b.) evaluation of courteous behaviors still linked to gender c.) women tend to marry courteous males d.) females are more likely to receive recent courtesy from males Harris, Mary B. (1992). When courtesy fails: Gender roles and polite behaviors, Journal of Applied Social Psychology,22,18,1399-1416.