Perceptions of Sexual Harassment as a Function of Target's Response Type and Observer's Sex

Although research has investigated definitionsand prevalence of sexual harassment, little is knownabout responses to sexual harassment. Therefore, thepresent study was designed to explore how individuals interpret the communication of various targetresponses. One hundred and twenty employees fromhealthcare settings were randomly assigned to one offour conditions. The majority of the individuals in the sample was White-European American (75%) whilethe remaining 25% was comprised of minority members. Theconditions contained a video-taped interaction betweentwo co-workers, one male and one female. The male's behavior in each interaction continuedto escalate to the point of sexual harassment while thefemale's responses varied. There were two passiveresponses and two assertive responses. After viewing the short video participants responded toquestions assessing their perceptions of theinteraction. Results indicated there were no differencesin perceptions between men and women when viewing thevarious conditions. There were, however, differencesfound between the assertive conditions and the passiveconditions. Specifically, assertive responses areperceived as more effective than passive responses in communicating unwelcomeness and in deterringthe initiator's persistence. However, consistent withthe research on responses to sexual harassment,perceptions of sexual harassment appear to be based more on the initiator's behavior than on thetarget's responses.     

The Effects of Delayed Report and Motive for Reporting on Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

We examined whether the timing of the report and the victim's apparent motive for reporting influences women's and men's perceptions of sexual harassment. Undergraduates (153 women, 149 men) listened to 1 of 6 versions of audiotaped testimony of the victim and defendant. The report was filed either immediately or 18 months later, and motive either was presented as altruistic, retaliatory, or was not specified. Participants chose a verdict, rated the defendant's guilt, and rated the defendant and victim on several dimensions. Higher guilt ratings, more positive evaluations of the victim, and more negative evaluations of the defendant were associated with immediate reporting and an altruistic motive, although women weighed these factors more heavily than did men.     

Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

This study attempted to test assumptions derived from the sex-role spillover model of sexual harassment developed by Gutek and Morasch (1982). One hundred fourteen male and 120 female undergraduates were asked to read scenarios describing potentially sexually oriented behaviors toward women in three different types of job settings (job types: female dominated, male dominated, and mixed). The independent variables were (a) the status difference between the supervisor and subordinate (small vs. large), (b) job type, (c) sex of subject, and (d) sex type of subject (same-sexed, cross-sexed, androgynous, or undifferentiated). The results indicated that ambiguous behaviors are perceived as being more sexually harassing in male dominated and mixed settings than in female dominated settings. The implications for future theory and research on sexual harassment are discussed.     

Age Comparisons in Workplace Sexual Harassment Perceptions

Few studies have systematically examined the influence of perceivers’ age on perceptions of sexual harassment. We sought to fill this gap, determine whether sexist attitudes mediate relations between age and sexual harassment perceptions, and whether relations between gender, sexist attitudes and perceptions are moderated by age. Results from an age-stratified sample of 965 students and staff employees at a US Midwestern university found a positive relationship between age and sexual harassment perceptions. Hostile sexism partially mediated this relationship, but age did not moderate correlations with gender or sexist attitudes. College-aged samples are less sensitive to harassment than older-aged samples, but the validity of other predictors of sexual harassment perceptions, such as gender and sexist attitudes, remains intact regardless of sample age.     

Assessing Perceptions of Sexual Harassment Behaviors in a Manufacturing Environment

This pilot study, conducted in a manufacturing plant, investigated employee perceptions of the behaviors of supervisors and co-workers that constitute quid pro quo and hostile work environment sexual harassment. Responses indicated that the majority of employees can accurately identify behaviors that are frequently associated with quid pro quo harassment, but cannot identify behaviors that are used to establish evidence of a hostile work environment. Comparisons of employees' scores demonstrated that male workers, relative to female workers, were more frequently accurate in identifying behaviors of both supervisors and co-workers that constitute sexual harassment. Perceptions of harassment varied according to job classification. Women in white-collar jobs were significantly more knowledgeable about what behaviors constitute sexual harassment than women in blue-collar jobs.     

Black and White College Women's Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

In this study, we examined how racial factorsinfluence college women's perceptions of sexualharassment. Specifically, we examined whether Black (N= 46) and White (N = 89) women perceive unsolicitedsexual behavior between a Black woman and Black mandifferentfrom such behavior between a Black woman and aWhite man. The data suggest that sexual harassmentbetween Black women and men are trivialized compared to sexual behavior between Black women andWhite men. The findings are interpreted with regard tothe necessity of studying sexual harassment for women ofcolor.     

Perceptions of Peer Sexual Harassment Among High School Students

Perceptions of peer social–sexual interactions were examined in a group of high school students (N=150). Participants were presented with six brief vignettes that described three types of sexual harassment between adolescent peers: physical, verbal/visual, and derogatory. Two vignettes were written for each type of behavior to reflect either a sexually explicit or implicit behavior. Participants responded to Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA), and then rated the sexually harassing nature of the behaviors. Sexual harassment ratings varied as a function of the type of behavior and the sexual explicitness with which it was displayed. Although consensus was reached regarding the sexually harassing nature of both the sexually implicit and explicit physical forms of behaviors, only when the verbal/visual behavior was explicitly displayed was it perceived as sexually harassing. Interactions among self-esteem, gender attitudes, and type of behavior were also noted. Irrespective of the explicitness with which it was displayed, rater characteristics were influential for both the verbal/visual and derogatory forms of harassment.     

The Effects of Training on Perceptions of Sexual Harassment Allegations

This study of 176 college juniors examined the effects of respondent gender and sexual harassment training on the perceptions of what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace. Variation in these perceptions, due to severity of the sexually oriented behavior, was also examined. Regardless of the subject's gender, individuals who 6 weeks earlier had seen a training film about sexual harassment rated severe sexually oriented work behaviors as more harassing than did individuals who had not seen the film. Additionally, males who had not seen the film rated ambiguous sexually oriented behaviors as less harassing than did males and females who had seen the film, and as less harassing than females who had not seen the film. Implications for the importance of training in addressing sexual harassment are discussed.     

The Role of Pluralistic Ignorance in the Reporting of Sexual Harassment

There have been many attempts to explain how and why people report incidents of sexual harassment. One area that has been overlooked is the influence of the targets' social cognition processes on these reports, particularly social comparison processes such as pluralistic ignorance. Pluralistic ignorance is a social comparison phenomenon whereby individuals mistakenly believe they are in the minority. In the case of harassment, pluralistic ignorance occurs when individuals mistakenly interpret the behavioral responses of others to mistakenly believe that they are alone in their discomfort with harassment. We investigated the role of pluralistic ignorance in this process by exposing undergraduate students to sexist jokes while manipulating their access to behavioral responses of others. We measured their comfort level and their perceptions of the humor of the jokes. We compared their responses, most importantly, with how many jokes they read prior to “reporting” their discomfort with the jokes. We found evidence for the proposed role of pluralistic ignorance in the sexual harassment reporting process, whereby exposure to behavioral responses of others influences perceptions of others' relative comfort and humor, which in turn led to a decreased likelihood of reporting the harassment.     

The Continuation of Perpetrator Behaviors that Influence Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

This study was designed to investigate sexual harassment perceptions based on continuation of unwanted sexual attention following victim resistance. Participants were 504 undergraduates who responded to statements regarding a sexual harassment scenario, in which the perpetrator continued or discontinued attention, which varied in severity according to nonphysical, physical, or restraint contact. Results showed that continued attention and any type of physical contact strengthened harassment perceptions, although men’s perceptions were weaker unless restraint was present. No sex differences were observed in the restraint condition. Women had stronger perceptions than men did in the physical condition, but showed a non-significant trend toward stronger perceptions in the nonphysical condition. Findings suggest that continuation following resistance may clarify for observers that harassment is occurring. Conceptualizations of harassment severity are suggested.     

Victim Resistance: Theory and Data on Understanding Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

This article reports on a study of perceptions of sexual harassment when a victim offers verbal resistance, and introduces the theoretical application of the notion that women sometimes use token resistance to sexual attention. Perceptions of sexual harassment were examined based on a vignette in which physical or verbal harassment and victim's facial expression were varied. Participants were 337 undergraduates (91% European American, 5% African American, 1% Hispanic American, 1% Asian American). Perceptions of sexual harassment were stronger for physical harassment than verbal harassment, except when the target smiled. Overall, women had stronger perceptions of harassment than did men. Also, a stronger belief in women's use of token resistance to sex was associated with weaker perceptions of sexual harassment. These findings suggest that a number of factors influence perceptions of harassment, even when a victim verbally resists.     

Assessing the Incidence and Perceptions of Sexual Harassment Behaviors Among American Undergraduates

A nine-item scale of sexual harassment behaviors was developed and tested in a two-study sequence. In the first study, male and female college students with job experience rated the frequency with which they experienced these behaviors from both supervisors and co-workers. Revisions were made on the basis of these results, and the revised scale was administered to a different yet similar sample to measure the perceptions of each behavior as sexual harassment. Results of both studies showed a significant difference for the ratings of supervisor and co-worker behaviors.     

Some Effects of Brief Training Interventions on Perceptions of Sexual Harassment1

In 2 experiments, college undergraduates received brief sexual harassment training or were assigned to a control group; all participants then judged whether sexual harassment occurred in brief written scenarios which had been evaluated previously by experts. In the first study, training increased the tendency to perceive sexual harassment but did not enhance expertise. In the second experiment, training significantly increased perceptual expertise for men but not for women—thereby eliminating a gender difference which has been consistently reported in the sexual harassment literature. These are the first experimental demonstrations that training can influence perceptions of sexual harassment in a laboratory setting; whether training can measurably affect the perception, reporting, or incidence of sexual harassment in real life is not yet known.     

An Attributional (Causal Dimensional) Analysis of Perceptions of Sexual Harassment1

Female and male subjects read one of three scenarios depicting a social-sexual interaction between a man and a woman. The scenarios varied in severity of the stimulus male's behavior according to whether sexual harassment had occurred. Subjects then rated the offensiveness of his behavior and whether it constituted sexual harassment. Subjects also rated the stimulus male's behavior on Weiner's (1986) three basic dimensions of causality: locus of causality, or the perceived cause of the behavior as internal or external; stability, or the likelihood of its recurrence; and controllability, or the amount of volitional influence he exercised during the interaction. Additionally, subjects reported their anger at the target male and sympathy for the target female. Findings generally indicated that for both women and men, as the scenarios increased in severity, these ratings were elevated. Gender comparisons also showed elevations in these ratings for female but not for male subjects, and only in the scenarios of lesser severity. Regression analyses revealed attribution variables—control, stability, and anger—as reliable predictors of perceived offensiveness and harassment in the most severe scenario, whereas affects were the most reliable predictors in scenarios of lesser severity. The implications of these findings for perception of sexual harassment are discussed.     

Workplace Sexual Harassment Perceptions in the Turkish Context and the Role of Individual Differences

The major purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of workplace sexual harassment in the Turkish context. In Study 1, 53 working women were interviewed to identify culture‐relevant behaviors that are considered to be sexual harassment. In Study 2, the factor structure of perceptions was explored. In addition, the way in which these perceptions are related to personal variables (i.e. gender role attitudes, self‐esteem, and negative affectivity) was investigated. Participants were 353 women currently employed at various organisations. Five factors were identified: sexist hostility, insinuation of interest, sexual hostility, physical sexual offense, and sexual bribery and coercion. Each factor was regressed on the personal variables. After controlling for relevant demographic and organisational variables, gender role attitudes, self‐esteem, and negative affectivity predicted sexual harassment perceptions. Specifically, negative affectivity predicted milder forms of harassment, attitudes predicted factors that are considered more severe, and self‐esteem predicted all factors but sexist hostility. The extent to which sexual harassment manifestations are universal and how certain manifestations that appeared in the Turkish context broaden the scope of sexual harassment are discussed by referring to the US literature. L’objectif central de cette recherche était l’étude de la perception du harcèlement sexuel au travail en Turquie. Dans une première phase, on a interviewé 53 salariées pour déterminer les comportements relevant du harcèlement sexuel dans ce contexte culturel. Dans une deuxième phase, on a recherché la structure factorielle des perceptions. On a aussi étudié les liens de ces perceptions avec des variables personnelles (Attitudes en rapport avec le rôle découlant du genre, estime de soi et affectivité négative). Les sujets étaient 353 femmes employées dans diverses organisations. Cinq facteurs sont apparus : hostilité sexiste, attirance sous‐entendue, hostilité sexuelle, agression sexuelle physique, coercition et corruption sexuelles. Chaque facteur a subi une analyse de régression sur les variables personnelles. En contrôlant de façon appropriée les variables démographiques et organisationnelles, les attitudes en rapport avec le rôle découlant du genre, l’estime de soi et l’affectivité négative prédisent la perception du harcèlement sexuel. En particulier, l’affectivité négative prédit les formes légères de harcèlement, les attitudes prédisent les facteurs considérés comme plus graves et l’estime de soi prédit tous les facteurs sauf l’hostilité sexiste. On discute à partir de la littérature américaine de l’universalité du harcèlement sexuel et du fait que certaines manifestations propres à la Turquie élargissent le champ de ce harcèlement.     

The Impact of Job Level and Prior Training on Sexual Harassment Labeling and Remedy Choice1

Supervisors, managers, and executives (N= 118) comprised the sample for this field study of persons’ labeling of sexual harassment and endorsement of various remedies for sexual harassment. The research method involved questionnaires issued in conjunction with 2 videotaped sexual harassment scenarios of differing severity. Results support predictions of participants’ ability to distinguish harassment severity, the effect of job level, and prior training's effect. Implications for qualifying the concept of work environment sexualization (Gutek, 1985) with consideration of job levels are discussed. Implications for sexual harassment awareness training and management practice are also discussed.     

The Feminizing Effect of Sexual Violence in Third-Party Perceptions of Male and Female Victims

Sex Roles - Various scholars have noted that the label “victim” frequently elicits connotations of stereotypical, passive femininity—especially when the crime entails rape or...     

Still Stable After All These Years: Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Academic Contexts

Abstract

When 2 persons—an acquaintance who could not have avoided a problem and a close relative who is responsible for her own plight—ask for help, attribution theory and sociobiology conflict about who will receive help. Attribution theorists assume that the nonresponsible acquaintance will be supported, but sociobiologists argue that the responsible sibling will receive help. The authors tested the hypothesis that characteristics of the situation affect which theory better predicts help giving. The results confirmed that in situations that do not affect life and death, a nonresponsible acquaintance would receive more help than a responsible sibling. But in life-or-death situations, inasmuch as the reproductive fitness of the person in need is in danger, a responsible sibling would be supported more than a nonresponsible acquaintance.