“Power From Within” and Masculine Language: Does New Age Language Work at Work?

Abstract

This study investigates the use, by women, of New Age spirituality (NAS) language in the workplace. Quantitative and qualitative data collected in New Zealand and Israel show that women reported using NAS language more than men, and that NAS language are generally silenced. Results show that if not calculated correctly, women’s use of NAS can lead to the loss of social capital and cultural capital in the workplace. In addition, women use NAS language as a set of ideas that shape the way they behave, as a form of “power from within,” and as “spiritual capital.” The article draws out some implications for theory on language and power in the workplace, by showing that silenced languages may remain alive within people, directing responses and actions, and for feminist research, by suggesting that women’s spirituality should be considered as a factor in explaining the interpretation and negotiation of workplace challenges, by women.

The incorporation of self-spirituality into Western organizations: A gender-based critique

“…The initial point of departure in the interpretive process is the link (discussed in the Introduction) between self-spirituality and femininity (Sointu and Woodhead, 2008), and data presented in earlier research that demonstrated that women are more likely than men to be engaged with self-spirituality (Heelas and Woodhead, 2005; Houtman and Aupers, 2007; Houtman and Mascini, 2002; Zaidman et al, 2017). The process of interpretation included back-and-forth reading of this literature and the literature on gender relations in organizations; it also included reading and defining the emerging themes from the reviewed research.…”

“…In the research reviewed for the present study, two studies addressed the issue of gender in their analyses of the incorporation of self-spirituality into organizations. Zaidman et al’s (2017) study focused on the incorporation of the language of self-spirituality in education and in high-tech and finance organizations, in New Zealand and Israel. The authors observed that in the organizations studied, the language of self-spirituality—like feminine language—is marginalized and silenced.…”

“…Rather, the data show that the incorporation of self-spirituality in secular organizations often evoked strong negative emotions, fear principal among these. The reviewed articles showed that a person associated with self-spirituality was often perceived by colleagues as ‘strange’, ‘weird’, ‘not serious’, ‘flippant’, or ‘lacking control’ (Zaidman et al, 2017); bizarre (Islam and Holm, 2016); ‘detached from daily, down to earth and normative conduct’ (Bentur and Resnizky, 2009); ‘out of his mind’ (Zaidman and Goldstein-Gidoni, 2011); ‘flakey’ (Kabat-Zinn, 2011); and as ‘dangerous and tainted’ (Tejeda, 2015). Similarly, self-spirituality was perceived as being associated with ‘mysterious’ and ‘dangerous’ qualities, or was stigmatized as associated with ‘cults’ (Islam and Holm, 2016; Kabat-Zinn, 2011; Zaidman et al, 2009; Zaidman and Goldstein-Gidoni, 2016).…”

“…The gender-based critique is informed by research that has identified that women are more likely than men to engage with self-spirituality (Heelas and Woodhead, 2005; Houtman and Aupers, 2007; Houtman and Mascini, 2002; the Zaidman et al, 2017). It is also informed by research that has articulated the link between self-spirituality and femininity.…”

The translation of self-spirituality into organizations

“…Self-spirituality is a multifaceted cultural phenomenon, incorporating ideas, concepts, and practices from a range of domains including esotericism, psychology, Eastern philosophy, complementary and alternative medicine, religion, feminism, the human potential movement, the ecology movement, and neo-paganism (Hanegraaff, 1998). In spite of its diversity of perspectives, scholars have identified several common core and interrelated dimensions of self-spirituality (Zaidman et al, 2017;Zemp and Liebe, 2019). The first is the transcendence of the self, that is, a belief that one is connected to other people, ideas, nature, or some kind of 'higher power ' (Ashforth and Pratt, 2003).…”