The Manifestation of the Karen Trope in the Workplace: A Reconsideration of Stereotypes of White Women at Work

ABSTRACT As research largely considers White women a race‐neutral gender group associated with generic feminine attributes (e.g., communality), there is a limited theoretical understanding of how their intersectional racial and gender identities might combine to shape their work experiences. Yet the recently emerged Karen trope—popularized on social media as White women who complain incessantly—deviates from generic feminine attributes and may have seeped into the workplace to potentially create unique work experiences for White women based on their race and gender. Using a mixed‐method design across three studies, we explore the implications of how the Karen trope has manifested within organizations. Our qualitative study revealed that employees have adopted this trope to label White female colleagues who prohibitively voice as workplace Karens, leading to various social penalties for these individuals. Integrating these preliminary findings with a stereotype activation and application lens, we develop a conceptual model of when White women (vs. men and non‐White women) conduct prohibitive voice, they activate a broader stereotype that White women are workplace Karens, causing observers to perceive them as having less organizational concern, which leads to lower promotability evaluations and decreased intent to rely on their voice. Using a series of experimental vignettes and a field study combining a critical incident technique with random assignment to experimental conditions, we find empirical support for our model. Our results enhance the theoretical and practical understanding of a rare context wherein Whiteness and gender interact to create negative work experiences for an otherwise advantaged social group.