Workplace Generosity May Be Strategic Manipulation, Study Suggests

Acts of workplace generosity, such as bringing in cakes or offering favors, may be strategic tactics to manipulate colleagues and enhance one's own reputation, according to research published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. The study suggests that this behavior, often termed 'competitive altruism,' is more common among women and can be a low-risk method to gain allies and an advantage.

Academics from Canada and Chile developed a competitive altruism test that was completed by over 100 women. The findings indicated that many participants had experienced colleagues employing such tactics. The research identified five distinct methods, with the most prevalent being the use of food, gifts, or treats to foster goodwill, a tactic reported by 33 percent of those surveyed.

Other identified tactics included 'performed warmth,' where friendliness was perceived as an act (experienced by 25 percent of participants), and warmth specifically directed at men (observed by 15 percent). Offering assistance to superiors for personal gain and using kindness selectively among female colleagues were also noted as competitive strategies.

Women who scored higher on the competitive altruism scale reported feeling more manipulative, deceptive, and less honest compared to their peers. The researchers concluded that these higher scores correlated with traits associated with Machiavellianism and low agreeableness, rather than genuine warmth.

"Displays of helping behavior, kindness, and generosity may serve as a form of advertisement of one's qualities," the study authors stated. "We propose that some of women's prosocial behavior is a low-risk competitive tactic in which kindness secures allies and reputation advantage while remaining deniable as competition." The familiar expression 'kill them with kindness' was cited as pointing to this possibility.