Women are more likely than men to receive positive feedback from their managers. But an overly enthusiastic performance review is not necessarily a good thing. Prior research shows female employees are often told white lies while their male equivalents are dealt the harsh, honest truth.

This is problematic because inaccurate, inflated feedback can hurt a woman’s ability to receive important job assignments, raises, or promotions.

But why are women reviewed differently? Do managers think female employees can’t handle the truth? Is hostile or benevolent sexism at play?

We set out to investigate what drives gender bias in workplace reviews and found that managers aim to be kinder to women because of the gender stereotype that women are warmer and “nicer” than men.

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