Managers who are told their company pays on merit alone give men bigger bonuses than women who do the same work. Once managers are convinced the system rewards performance and nothing else, they stop scrutinizing their own decisions, and prejudice they would otherwise catch slips into the pay. Then they asked everyone to read the employees' performance reviews and divide a bonus pool among them. Managers who read that the company paid on performance alone gave Michael $46 more than Patricia. The only difference was whether the company called itself a meritocracy, and that alone was enough to make managers favor the man over an equally qualified woman.