Why women who are ogled at work do not perform as well in the office

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 09:55 EDT, 28 January 2011

Bosses might want to keep an eye on the flirtatious glances of their employees, as a new study reveals women who are leered at at work perform less well in the office.

Scientists discovered that being the subject of a man's admiring gaze is distracting and and unsettling for women because it either puts them off or makes them feel flattered.

But the research found that despite this negative effect, women still interact more with men who look at them this way.

A study found that women taking a maths test experienced a drop in performance if the male researcher asking the questions occasionally stared at their chest

The study found that women taking a maths test experienced a drop in performance if the male researcher asking the questions occasionally stared at their chest.

Psychologists believe the lower scores could be due to women becoming anxious about sexist stereotypes.

Meanwhile their increased interaction with lecherous men may be due to 'trying to boost their sense of belonging' in a male environment.

For the study, research assistants were taught to take a quick up-and-down look at a person's body and then train their gaze at the other person's chest for a consistent period of a few seconds during conversations.

The research assistants were then paired off with a selection of male and female volunteers.

The volunteers were told the study was about teamwork. After this briefing, each volunteer was assigned to an opposite-sex partner - actually a trained research assistant posing as another volunteer.

The research assistants then gave the real volunteers a five-question interview, ostensibly as part of the teamwork exercise.

In some cases, the assistant started the interview by gazing from the volunteer's head to waist and back again, and then stared at the volunteer's chest for a few seconds between some questions.

The volunteers then had 10 minutes to complete 12 math problems.

The results revealed men's scores were not affected by whether or not they got an objectifying glance from a woman.

But women whose male partners objectified them scored lower than those whose partners behaved more professionally.

The non-objectified women got an average of six out of 12 questions correct, while women who were ogled scored an average of just under five.

Dr Sarah Gervais, the psychologist who led the study at the University of Nebraska, USA, said the lower maths scores were likely caused by a phenomenon called 'stereotype threat'.

Studies have shown that when you remind people of a stereotype about their group, such as 'girls are bad at math', their performance drops because of anxiety over the stereotype.

The women who got the objectifying look were aware of it on some level, as they reported that their partner was more preoccupied with their looks than the women who weren't ogled.

Despite this drop in performance, women were more motivated to interact with men who ogled them.

Dr Gervais said: 'It creates this vicious cycle for women in which they're under-performing in maths or at work, but they're continuing to want to interact with the person who's making them underperform in the first place.'

Dr Gervais said this seemingly self-defeating desire could be because they want a chance to show men they're not a sex object.

Gervais said they also may have felt flattered or may be trying to fit in.

Alternatively, they might have seen the flirtatious look as a sign the man was attracted and so returned that attraction.

She said: 'People that are being stereotyped become very, very concerned about their social connections and whether they belong.'

Further interaction may reduce that anxiety, she said.

Dr Gervais speculated as to whether licentious glances could now become as taboo as bottom-slaps under sexual harassment law.

She said: 'When it comes to something subtle like this, it's very difficult to combat.

'It's almost expected that men are going to do this to women and that really it's not that harmful.'

But if research shows such ogling consistently interferes with work performance, it's time to take the issue more seriously, Dr Gervais said.

She added: 'Even though it is just a look, it has meaningful consequences for women.'

The study is published in the February issue of the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly.