Now Reading | Men Who Harass Women Online are Quite Literally Losers, New Study Finds.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/07/20/men-who-harass-women-online-are-quite-literally-losers-new-study-finds/
Photo: Farhan Perdana/Flickr
I just finished reading “Men Who Harass Women Online are Quite Literally Losers, New Study Finds.” We didn’t need a research study to tell us this but the study is fascinating, nonetheless. My thanks to Olivier Blanchard for posting this article today. According to the author, this validation comes courtesy Michael Kasumovic and Jeffrey Kuznekoff, researchers at the University of New South Wales and Miami University, respectively. For their latest study, published in the journal PLOS One last week, the duo watched how men treated women during 163 plays of the video game Halo 3.
As they studied the players, they noticed that as long as the men were doing well, they were fairly cordial to each other, but as their skill lessened, here is what they observed:
Some male players, however — the ones who were less-skilled at the game, and performing worse relative their peers — made frequent, nasty comments to the female gamers. In other words, sexist dudes are literally losers.
Kasumovic goes on to explain:
In each of these environments, Kasumovic suggests, a recent influx of female participants has disrupted a pre-existing social hierarchy. That’s okay for the guys at the top — but for the guys at the bottom, who stand to lose more status, that’s very threatening.
“As men often rely on aggression to maintain their dominant social status,” Kasumovic writes, “the increase in hostility towards a woman by lower-status males may be an attempt to disregard a female’s performance and suppress her disturbance on the hierarchy to retain their social rank.”
In other words, like your mother always said, bullies just feel bad about themselves.
I read that last line with a knowing grimace. It echos my personal theories fixed in place from unfortunate personal experience. I find the irony too strong to ignore—this very same behavior demonstrated online is all too true in real life, especially in the workplace.
When it comes to the online environment, or to the workplace, there is just no room for harassment, bullying, or intimidation between the sexes. Not male to female—or female to male. At Fierce, our culture revolves around a core value of kindness. The Fierce people fight every day for a sacred culture of collaboration, support, encouragement, honest communication, and edification. At FS+C, we exist to do work with excellence that effects change in our world and no one has time for bullies.
NOTE: Have you ever worked with a bully at work? I have. And I found this article fascinating—and so true. Don’t allow bullying, intimidation, or harassment in your work environment. It’s not okay. It’s never okay. If you need advice on what to do, reach out to me. beckie.manley@hellofierce.com.
