Should I ‘check my emotions at the door’ or express how I feel? Role of emotion regulation versus expression by male leaders speaking out against sexism in the workplace

In response to prejudiced behaviors, the emotional experience of leaders influences whether and how they confront prejudice, but more importantly, their emotional expression serves a crucial communicative function to signal to observers the motivations and characteristics of the leaders and the organization. A qualitative study of exceptional allies revealed that even those committed to confronting prejudice are afraid to do so because of impression management and relational concerns. When they do act, their emotional experiences of empathic sadness on behalf of the stigmatized target or anger toward the transgressor spur action whereas not intervening leads to feelings of guilt. However, they struggle with regulating these emotions due to the belief that non-emotional confrontations are better received by others. On the contrary, two experimental studies showed that the same verbal confrontation accompanied by anger (versus not) is viewed as more sincere and in fact, improves the impressions of the leader and the organization.