Organizational pressures and anxiety can trigger expressions of anger.

When women and men expressed anger at work, evaluators considered women less competent, with lower leadership effectiveness than men who also expressed anger.

Both male and female evaluators conferred lower status on angry female professionals, reported Yale University’s Victoria Brescoll and Eric Luis Uhlmann of HEC Paris School of Management.

Negative evaluations of women who express anger were consistent across job roles, from female CEOs to female trainees.
In contrast, men who expressed anger at work were conferred higher status than men who expressed sadness.

Women who expressed anger and sadness were rated as less effective than women who expressed no emotion, found Kristi Lewis Tyran of Western Washington University.

Men were also negatively evaluated for leadership effectiveness when they expressed sadness. 
Sadness seems to be negatively evaluated in both men and women, and anger is especially negatively evaluated in women.

Observers attribute different motivations and causes to anger expressions by women and men.
Women’s angry emotional reactions were attributed to stable internal characteristics such as “she is an angry person,”  in Brescoll’s and Uhlmann’s research.
In contrast, men’s angry reactions were attributed to changeable external circumstances, such as having external pressure and demands.

These differing evaluations are related to societal norms for women to regulate anger expressions, suggested Fairfield University’ s Donald Gibson and Ronda Callister of Utah State University.

Women may buffer the status-lowering, competence-eroding, and dislike-provoking consequences of anger at work by:

• Pointing to external causes of angry expressions,
  
  

  Rhonda Callister

• Expressing warmth and concern for others,
• Demonstrating generosity and philanthropy.

-*What consequences have you observed for people who express anger in the workplace?

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©Kathryn Welds