TY - JOUR
T1 - Countering a masculinity contest culture at work
T2 - the moderating role of organizational justice
AU - Workman-Stark, Angela
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2021/3/5
Y1 - 2021/3/5
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test whether organizational justice (i.e. fair treatment) can mitigate the harmful effects of a “masculinity contest culture (MCC)” (i.e. norms, rituals and belief systems valorizing social dominance, work above other parts of life, physical strength and the avoidance of weakness). Design/methodology/approach: Through an analysis of secondary survey data collected from a Canadian police organization (N = 488), this study tested the moderating effects of organizational justice on the relationship between employee perceptions of their workplace as a masculinity contest, and a negative outcome variable, harassment. Findings: The results of this study suggest that a MCC was significantly related to harassment, which in turn contributed to lower psychological wellbeing and increased turnover intentions. Independently, organizational justice moderated the effect of a MCC on harassment, suggesting that harassment is less prevalent in the workplace when there is a greater focus on treating all employees fairly. Originality/value: Despite the increase in both scholarly and practitioner interest in the effects of organizational cultures in which employees seek to maintain their own status at all costs, there has been little research examining the interactions of these harmful workplace cultures and the factors that might counter them. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is one of the rare studies to investigate possible interventions for harmful workplace cultures.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test whether organizational justice (i.e. fair treatment) can mitigate the harmful effects of a “masculinity contest culture (MCC)” (i.e. norms, rituals and belief systems valorizing social dominance, work above other parts of life, physical strength and the avoidance of weakness). Design/methodology/approach: Through an analysis of secondary survey data collected from a Canadian police organization (N = 488), this study tested the moderating effects of organizational justice on the relationship between employee perceptions of their workplace as a masculinity contest, and a negative outcome variable, harassment. Findings: The results of this study suggest that a MCC was significantly related to harassment, which in turn contributed to lower psychological wellbeing and increased turnover intentions. Independently, organizational justice moderated the effect of a MCC on harassment, suggesting that harassment is less prevalent in the workplace when there is a greater focus on treating all employees fairly. Originality/value: Despite the increase in both scholarly and practitioner interest in the effects of organizational cultures in which employees seek to maintain their own status at all costs, there has been little research examining the interactions of these harmful workplace cultures and the factors that might counter them. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is one of the rare studies to investigate possible interventions for harmful workplace cultures.
KW - Harassment
KW - Masculinity contest culture
KW - Moderation
KW - Organizational culture
KW - Police
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087966100&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/IJOTB-11-2019-0132
DO - 10.1108/IJOTB-11-2019-0132
M3 - Journal Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087966100
SN - 1093-4537
VL - 24
SP - 6
EP - 23
JO - International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior
JF - International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior
IS - 1
ER -