New Research Says...Women Are Inherently Wired to Stab Each Other in the Back

This is so so funny and maybe true. According to the research:

There are two types of women in the workplace: those who are genuinely supportive of other women, and those who seem bent on undermining their female peers.

A recent, controversial study on intra-female hostility highlighted how women react to other women and brought this subject into sharp focus.

The study seeks to explain women's dressing as a possible cause of hostility among women at work. Researchers from the University of Ottawa, Canada conducted a social experiment to find out if women are more hostile to other women who they perceive as being physically attractive.

Respondents hardly noticed a woman who was dressed conservatively in khaki trousers and a t-shirt. But majority of the respondents, who saw the same woman in a miniskirt and a low-cut top but didn't recognise her as the same women they had just seen, criticised her outfit and speculated about her promiscuity.

Professor Tracy Vallaincourt, one of the researchers, attributed dressing in a certain way as one of the possible causes of female hostility in the workplace.

Though the credibility of the study has been questioned in some quarters, that women sometimes face hostility, unhealthy competition and sabotage from their female workmates is not in question.

Intra-female nastiness is the theme of the book: I Can't Believe She Did That! Why Women Betray Other Women at Work by American author Nan Mooney.

Mooney writes that women who feel threatened by their female peers shy away from direct conflict opting instead to engage in unhealthy competition, such as talking behind one another's backs, and sabotaging a peer's success.

Green-eyed monster

Some studies show that women with low self esteem may be dissatisfied with the work environment or may be experiencing difficulties expressing themselves to others leading to miscommunication or indirect aggression towards other women.

Asenath, a 26-year-old Masters student at Kenyatta University believes that it is a feminine trait for women to plot against each other in fits of jealousy. The meanness stems from envy that another woman is getting something that one lacks but desires.

Since women share so much information about their lives, one may feel left out when the other gets what they both aspire to, leading to conflict and indirect aggression in the form of backbiting, and sabotage.

And while some see nothing wrong with a small dose of jealousy as a source of motivation to do better and propel a woman to her goals, jealousy is a cause of sabotage plots by women against other women.

"If a woman is promoted her female colleagues are the first to spread rumours about how she slept her way up," Asenath admits. Women who are excelling also face exclusion by envious peers.

Beatrice Wachiuri, a banker, has heard people make snide remarks about a woman being arrogant because she advanced her professional skills and got a promotion.