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Being nice at work quietly costs men money | S1

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📄 Full research article: keca.co.uk/articles/nice-guys-never-win Agreeable people earn less, and the penalty is stronger for men — backlash for breaking the ‘tough male’ stereotype (Judge et al., 2012). Full episode on the channel. #agreeableness #bigfive
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Being nice at work quietly costs men money. If you're the agreeable one at work, helpful, warm, never pushy, have got bad news backed by very solid research. Across four studies, agreeable people were found to earn less, negotiate worse and advance more slowly. It even has a name, the Agreeableness Penalty.

And here's the sting for the men watching. It's significantly stronger for men than for women. Why? Backlash. We expect men to be tough and assertive, so a disagreeable man reads as a strong negotiator, while an agreeable man reads as a pushover and gets marked down for it. He's punished not for being kind, but for breaking a stereotype.

Before you decide to become a jerk though, watch the full episode, because that backfires too.