Women feel less trusting in their relationships at work as compared to their male counterparts, a new study has showed.
Dr Simon Pervan from the University of Bath interviewed 400 senior marketing managers about their relationships with people from other companies in the advertising and marketing sector.
He found that only 48 per cent of women agreed with the statement: "We are honest with each other about the problems that arise," whereas 67 per cent of men agreed with this.
He further found that only 45 per cent of women agreed with the statements that, in their relationship, "parties were willing to exchange fairly, communicate problems and make up for harm done," compared with 55 per cent of men.
"These findings show that women are less likely to feel that the relationship they have with people from other companies is honest or reciprocal," said Dr Pervan.
"It could be that women, being more empathic, are better able to see that the relationships at work are not honest or reciprocal, whereas men wrongly assume they are."
"A cynical interpretation of the results is that men are more likely to blissfully continue in what they perceive, wrongly or rightly, as a good business relationship," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"A cynical interpretation of the results is that men are more likely to blissfully continue in what they perceive, wrongly or rightly, as a good business relationship," he added.
{{/usCountry}}In a separate but related study, Dr Pervan found that men were twice as likely to have low levels of empathy. This means that where women encounter reciprocity from others, they are better able to use it to form a positive relationship, as they are more empathic.
"This study suggests that promoting reciprocal behaviour within an organisation may improve employees’ self-esteem, sense of life balance and expectation, while also providing long-term benefits to the firm through strengthened commercial relationships, improved morale and retention," he said.