Behind Closed Doors: The Uncommunal Feminine Stereotype

Theories of gender inequality in the workplace rely heavily on stereotypes that describe women as more communal (e.g., warm and kind) and less agentic (e.g., assertive and forceful) than men. In this paper, we highlight the existence of an uncommunal feminine stereotype wherein women are also believed to be more conniving and devious than men, pursuing their personal goals at the expense of others. To explain how this uncommunal stereotype can coexist with its communal counterpart, we posit that women are believed to behave more communally in public and more uncommunally in private. This public-private distinction can reconcile conflicting stereotypes of women’s communality and better account for aspects of inequality. In particular, the uncommunal stereotype provides an alternative attribution for women’s success when it occurs, explains the greater vigilance to and sanctioning of women’s unethical behavior, and strengthens backlash theory by better explaining why successful women are distrusted. In these ways and others, accounting for the uncommunal feminine stereotype can enhance gender theory.