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开会时，好主意常常不是因为错了才被埋没，而是因为没人说出口。美国罗切斯特理工学院（RIT）10 月 23 日（美国时间）发布新闻稿，介绍管理学副教授 Kristin Bain 与犹他大学、夏威夷大学马诺阿分校等学者合作的研究《被无礼所噤声》（Silenced by Incivility），论文发表在《商业伦理期刊》（Journal of Business Ethics）上。所谓“无礼行为”（incivility），指违反社交规范的细小不尊重举动，比如翻白眼、打断别人、话没说完就被否定。研究在两项共 3000 多人参与的研究中比较了文明与无礼的群体：总体而言，女性并不比男性更沉默；但在无礼的群体里，女性更预期提出挑战现状的意见会招致“反弹”（backlash），于是比男性更常保持沉默，而在文明群体中这一差距消失。Bain 解释说，职场常奖励自信、果断、敢于担当等被视为“男性化”的领导特质，女性表现出同样特质时却可能被认为“不讨人喜欢”“专横”（bossy），甚至晋升机会降低。她不赞成只劝女性“更强势”，而是建议管理者不把沉默当作同意、当众处理无礼行为、在团队成立时就建立尊重规范；同事也可以为被贴上“专横”标签的人说话。需要注意，这些具体做法主要是 Bain 的建议，并非都经过论文检验。文章按“现象—概念—研究发现—原因解释—应对建议”展开，阅读时可留意 but、instead、when 如何表达转折和条件，以及 may、suggest 如何限定结论。

正文

In many meetings, a good idea is lost not because it is wrong, but because nobody says it. A study co-led by Kristin Bain, a management professor at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the United States, looks at one reason why. It finds that rude behavior in a group makes people keep quiet, and that women hold back more than men. RIT shared the work on October 23. The paper, called “Silenced by Incivility”, was published in the Journal of Business Ethics.

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开会时，一个好主意被埋没，常常不是因为它错了，而是因为没有人把它说出来。美国罗切斯特理工学院（RIT）的管理学教授 Kristin Bain 参与主导的一项研究，探讨了其中一个原因。研究发现，群体中的无礼行为会让人们保持沉默，而且女性比男性更常把想法藏在心里。RIT 于 10 月 23 日介绍了这项研究。这篇题为《被无礼所噤声》的论文发表在《商业伦理期刊》上。

Incivility means small acts of disrespect that break social rules. Bain says these acts are often minor: an eye roll, an interruption, or a quick dismissal of a point before someone has finished a sentence. Such behavior may seem harmless, but it sends a message about whether speaking up is safe.

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“无礼行为”指违反社交规范的细小不尊重举动。Bain 说，这些举动往往很小：翻个白眼、打断别人，或者别人话还没说完就迅速否定其观点。这样的行为看似无害，却传递出一个信息：开口说话是否安全。

In two studies with more than 3,000 participants, the researchers compared people in civil and uncivil groups. Overall, women did not report more silence than men. The difference appeared only in uncivil groups. There, women expected more backlash, or punishment, for sharing ideas that challenged the usual way of doing things, and they kept quiet more often than men. In civil groups, the gap disappeared.

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在两项共有 3000 多人参与的研究中，研究者比较了处在文明群体和无礼群体中的人。总体而言，女性报告的沉默并不比男性多。差异只出现在无礼的群体中。在那里，女性更预期自己提出挑战惯常做法的想法会招致“反弹”，也就是惩罚，因而比男性更常保持沉默。而在文明的群体中，这一差距消失了。

Why would women expect more backlash? Bain explains that workplaces often reward leadership traits such as being confident, decisive and ready to take charge. Many people link these traits with men. When women act in the same way, they may face quiet penalties, such as a lower chance of promotion. “It’s usually in terms of finding the woman less likable,” Bain said. That is when people start to call her “bossy”.

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为什么女性会预期更多反弹？Bain 解释说，职场往往奖励自信、果断、敢于担当等领导特质，而许多人把这些特质与男性联系在一起。当女性以同样方式行事时，她们可能会受到不易察觉的惩罚，例如晋升机会降低。“通常表现为觉得这位女性不那么讨人喜欢，”Bain 说。人们就是在这时开始说她“专横”的。

A common piece of advice is to tell women to be more assertive. Bain doubts that this is enough. She says it treats the situation as a woman’s problem, when the real causes lie in team culture, norms and policies. Instead, she wants managers to act. First, they should not take silence as agreement. Second, they should deal with rude behavior where the group can see it. They can also set rules for respect when a team first forms.

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一条常见的建议是让女性变得更强势。Bain 怀疑这是否足够。她说，这种建议把问题当成了女性自己的问题，而真正的原因在于团队文化、规范和制度。她希望管理者采取行动。第一，不要把沉默当作同意。第二，要在群体看得见的地方处理无礼行为。他们还可以在团队刚组建时就制定相互尊重的规则。

Coworkers can help too. If someone is called “bossy” for making a firm decision, Bain suggests pointing out that the decision helped the team get work done. “Knowing that someone has your back can make a really big difference,” she said. Not every tip was tested in the studies, but the findings suggest that the mood of a group can affect whose ideas are heard.

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同事也能出一份力。如果有人因为果断作出决定而被说成“专横”，Bain 建议指出这个决定帮助团队把事情办成了。“知道有人支持你，会带来非常大的不同，”她说。并非每条建议都在这些研究中经过检验，但研究结果表明，一个群体的氛围可能影响谁的想法能被听到。

新闻来源

• RIT News · RIT research reveals why women stay silent in rude workplaces (23 Oct 2026)
• Journal of Business Ethics · Silenced by Incivility (Bain, Coll, Kreps & Tenney)

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