DOOR! [View all]

Sorry,couldn't resist.

Recent research out of Purdue University suggests that many men experience lower self-esteem after having a door held open for them (particularly if the door holder is another man — sorry, ladies, I was jumping the gun before) because they either a.) feel feminized or b.) think that the door-opener is suggesting that they're too weak to do it themselves....



There is a down side to "seemingly innocuous but unexpected helping behavior that violates gender norms," Purdue University psychologists Megan McCarty and Janice Kelly write in the journal Social Influence. Their results suggest even a simple act of kindness can convey a negative message—He thinks I'm weak!—which can lead to increased self-doubt.

For their research, McCarty and Kelly observed 196 people as they entered a building on campus. A male member of the research team accompanied each unwitting subject as they approached the door. With half the subjects, the male researcher got a few steps ahead and held open the door for the person behind him. With the other half, he would enter the adjacent door at roughly the same time, not interacting with the subject at all....

For the most part, there was no notable difference between the women who had had the door held for them and the women who opened the door for themselves. Male participants who had had the door opened for them, however, reported much lower self-esteem than those who didn't.

http://jezebel.com/looking-to-emasculate-a-man-open-his-door-for-him-1530071133


My favorite comment from the article:
I'm not freaked out by a woman holding a door for me, but I am horrendously terrified walking beside someone you don't know while heading for the same door, that causes a ton of stress in my life. Should I hurry up to get there first then hold it open? Is that weird? What if I drop back a step or two? Will they open it for me? How thankful should I be? What if someone is coming out and the door is already open? Should I say after you? Or maybe just do that sweeping arm half-gesture? Should I take off at a dead sprint to open up a gap? What if there are two layers of doors? If I go in first should I hold open the second set? What if I let you in first, should I expect the second set to be help? AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH