So you think you are an ally? Effects of (in)congruence between men's self‐perceptions and women's perceptions of men's values and allyship on women's inclusion and vitality

Abstract

AbstractAs public consciousness of sexism is increasing in the workplace (e.g., #MeToo movement), labelling oneself as an ally (e.g., UN HeforShe campaign) is becoming more socially desirable for men. However, do women agree with such men in their assessments of being allies? Importantly, how does women's agreement (or not) with men's self‐assessments of allyship affect women's inclusion‐relevant outcomes? Using a multi‐informant design and data from 101 men–women colleague pairs, this study considered men's self‐perceptions and women's other‐reports of men's key allyship‐relevant characteristics—justice, moral courage, civility and allyship. Polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed differential impacts of (in)congruence between men's and women's perceptions on women's sense of inclusion and vitality. Simply, when women perceived men as higher (or the same) in justice, moral courage and civility than men reported themselves, it positively predicted women's outcomes. This suggests that humble self‐presentation by men on characteristics that are parallel to allyship (but not allyship) may be ideal. Yet, both under‐ and overestimation by men on allyship itself predicted poorer outcomes for women, suggesting that the ideal is for men to have an accurate assessment of their own strengths and weaknesses as an ally.