Perception of Feminists and the #Metoo Movement: An Empirical Investigation of the Subtle and Implicit Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The recent #MeToo Movement has triggered controversies in South Korea, where gender parity has not been entirely achieved. Recently, it has brought about subtle and implicit forms of discrimination in the workplace, one of which is the so-called “Pence Rule” behavior, that is, the deliberate avoidance of female workers for fear of being accused of sexual misconduct. An experiment was conducted wherein participants who are undergraduate students (i.e., future would-be workers) were asked to work with a hypothetical woman whose opinion (i.e., textual cue) and physical appearance (i.e., visual cue) were differently manipulated, either consistently or inconsistently, with widespread stereotypical views of feminists. The results show that the Pence Rule behavior is the behavioral realization of a stereotypical perception of feminists, and this effect is augmented among participants showing higher propensity for social dominance orientation (SDO), i.e., belief in existing intergroup inequality and hierarchy. Interestingly, there is a positive relationship between SDO and propensity for subtle discriminatory behaviors toward a hypothetical woman who has feminist opinions or physical appearance, among both, male and female participants alike. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed with potential limitations and a commentary on the future of gender equality in the workplace.

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