Blaming the Target of Sexual Harassment: Impact of Gender Role,Sexist Attitudes,and Work Role

This study was conducted to examine factors associated with blaming the target of sexual harassment. Participants' experiences of sexual harassment, sexist attitudes, gender, gender role identity, age, worker or student status, and belief in a just world were included as independent variables. Level of blame was evaluated using a series of 12 vignettes that manipulated the gender of the target and harasser as well as the seriousness of the harassing behavior. The sample comprised 30 female and 32 male workers from two workplaces, whose ages ranged from 18 to 65 (M = 35) years, and 102 female and 18 male university students whose ages ranged from 17 to 40 (M = 21) years. Approximately 70% of the sample were from Anglo Australian background, and 30% from European, Middle Eastern or Asian background. Females experienced more sexual harassment than males did, although the male rate was higher than expected. Although the majority of subjects attributed little blame to the target, males blamed the target of sexual harassment more than females did, and workers blamed the target of harassment more than university students did. Worker status, sexist attitudes, and gender significantly predicted blame for the total sample. Gender-typing increased the blame of the target by males but not by females. Attribution of blame was significantly influenced by worker versus student status, which supports the social psychological perspective that gender-related behavior is context dependent. The findings from this study suggest that organisational culture and environment influence respondents' attitudes to sexually harassing behavior.     

Cultural Adaptation and Sexual Harassment in the Lives of Asian American Women

ABSTRACT

Despite the prevalence of both historical and current race- and gender-based stereotyping of Asian American women, little is known about their experiences and attitudes regarding sexual harassment. In this study, 109 Asian American women enrolled in a state university or a 2-year community college responded to questionnaires about cultural orientation, experiences of sexual harassment, and sexual harassment attitudes. Asian cultural orientation was associated with sexual harassment attitudes. Specifically, among women with low White cultural orientation, there was a statistically significant positive association between Asian cultural orientation and acceptance of sexual harassment. Results from this study have important implications for clinical practice with Asian American women, including issues of migration, cultural orientation, and the intersection of racism and sexism in the United States.     

THE EFFECTS OF SEXUALLY VIOLENT ROCK MUSIC ON MALES'ACCEPTANCE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The effects of sexually violent music on undergraduate males'( N = 75) attitudes toward women, acceptance of violence against women, and self-reported sexual arousal were evaluated. The experimental manipulation involved exposure to sexually violent heavy-metal rock music, Christian heavy-metal rock music, or easy-listening classical music. One month before the experimental manipulation, participants were administered two covariate measures (religious orientation and sex-role orientation); the Attitudes toward Women Scale; the Sex-Role Stereotyping, Adversarial Sexual Beliefs, Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence, and Rape Myth Acceptance subscales from the Sexual Attitudes Survey; and a sexual arousal index. The results indicated that males with an extrinsic religious orientation were more accepting of sexist and rape-supportive beliefs. Exposure to heavy-metal rock music, irrespective of lyrical content, increased males sex-role stereotyping and negative attitudes toward women. An unexpected finding was grearer self-reported sexual arousal in response to classical music. Results are discussed with respect to participant and stimulus characteristics and experimenters'gender.     

Sexism,rape myths and feminist identification explain gender differences in attitudes toward the #metoo social media campaign in two countries

ABSTRACT

On October 15, 2017, actress Alyssa Milano popularized the #metoo campaign, which sought to expose the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in public domains by encouraging victims to share their experiences on social media using the hashtag metoo. The online campaign rapidly grew to a global phenomenon, which was generally well supported. However, some criticized the campaign online as a battle of the sexes, which pits men against women. Our cross-cultural research investigated whether gender differences in attitudes and feelings toward #metoo are due to underlying differences in ideologies and experiences that only partly overlap with gender. We surveyed respondents in the United States, where the campaign began, and in Norway, a highly gender-egalitarian country. In both countries, men expressed less positivity toward #metoo than women and perceived it as substantially more harmful and less beneficial. These gender differences were largely accounted for by men being higher than women in hostile sexism, higher in rape myth acceptance, and lower in feminist identification. The results, hence, suggest that gender differences in attitudes to social media campaigns such as #metoo might be best characterized as dimensional ideological differences rather than fundamental group differences.     

INVESTIGATING THE UTILITY OF THE FILM WAR ZONE IN THE PREVENTION OF STREET HARASSMENT

Street harassment, the act of sexual harassment by strangers in public, is a common experience shared by many women. This paper reports the first experimental evaluation of the impact of a popular documentary-style film,  War Zone , on men's attitudes toward street harassment and empathy for women who experience it. The sample was an ethnically diverse group of undergraduate men attending an urban university ( N  = 98). Given the film's primary focus on women's perspectives and the relation of street harassment to rape, we predicted the film would decrease acceptance of street harassment and increase empathy toward women who experience street harassment. We did not find support for these main effects. Hostility toward women, however, was negatively related to cognitive empathy and feelings of distress following the film, and hostility toward women moderated the effect of film condition on distress. Peer acceptance predicted greater self-acceptance of street harassment. Implications for future street harassment research and prevention strategies are discussed.     

Attributions of responsibility for an incident of sexual harassment in a university setting

The present study replicated and extended research on the effects of observer characteristics (i.e., gender and traditional vs. less traditional attitudes) on attributions of responsibility in a case of sexual harassment. Participants (120 males, 120 females) were randomly assigned to one of six conditions that varied the gender of the victim and the victim's reaction. A sexual harassment scenario involving a university student and professor of the opposite gender was presented as an audiotape of the victim's account. Participants with less traditional attitudes attributed less responsibility to the victim than did participants with traditional attitudes. Females attributed more responsibility to the perpetrator and the victim of the same gender than did males. Victim reaction interacted with participant gender; males responded in a manner that was consistent with the reaction manipulation, whereas females attributed less responsibility to the self-blaming victim than to either the perpetrator-blaming or control victims. The results are discussed in the light of attribution theory and previous research.     

GENDER IDENTITY AND ADVERSARIAL SEXUAL BELIEFS AS PREDICTORS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The present study replicates the work of Konrad and Gutek (1986) within a college sample and extends their work by examining the impact of gender identity and adversarial sexual beliefs as predictors of attitudes toward sexual harassment. One hundred seven college students indicated specific aspects of their direct experiences with sexual harassment and then completed several attitudinal measures. Endorsement of adversarial sexual beliefs and experience with sexual harassment significantly predicted negative (less tolerant) attitudes toward sexual harassment for male respondents. Strong gender group identity and the endorsement of adversarial sexual beliefs significantly predicted negative (less tolerant) attitudes toward sexual harassment for female students. Implications for the focus of intervention strategies within an academic environment are discussed.     

Types of Followers

Abstract

This study examined the influence of gender and exposure to gender-stereotyped music video imagery on sexual attitudes (adversarial sexual beliefs, acceptance of rape myths, acceptance of interpersonal violence, and gender role stereotyping). A group of 44 U.S. college students were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups that viewed either a video portraying stereotyped sexual imagery or a video that excluded all sexual images. Exposure to traditional sexual imagery had a significant main effect on attitudes about adversarial sexual relationships, and gender had main effects on 3 of 4 sexual attitudes. There was some evidence of an interaction between gender and exposure to traditional sexual imagery on the acceptance of interpersonal violence.     

Prior Allegations of Harassment Impact Mock Jurors’ Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in a Criminal Trial

The current study examined factors that may influence jurors’ judgments in a criminal sexual harassment case with Canadian undergraduate students. Undergraduate students (n?=?268) examined whether defendant’s gender, victim’s gender, and whether the victim had made similar accusations in the past were influential in mock jurors’ judgments. Participants read a case summary describing an alleged sexual harassment and answered questions concerning defendant’s guilt, defendant’s culpability, and perceptions of the victim. Additionally, attitudes concerning sexual harassment and sexism were measured. The presence of prior allegations was a driving force in mock juror decisions, with mock jurors providing more guilty verdicts, more favorable perceptions of the victim, and less favorable perceptions of the defendant when no prior allegations of harassment had been made by the victim. The results of the current study suggest that the presence of prior allegations have a large impact on mock jurors’ decisions, suggesting that prior allegations may need to be considered more closely in court before they can be used as evidence.

     

Predictors of Turkish Women’s and Men’s Attitudes toward Sexual Harassment: Ambivalent Sexism, and Ambivalence Toward Men

This study examined the relationships among ambivalent sexism (hostile/benevolent), ambivalence toward men (hostility/benevolence) and Turkish women/men’s attitudes toward sexual harassment, including attitudes toward viewing sexual harassment as a result of provocative behaviors of women (ASHPBW) and attitudes toward viewing sexual harassment as a trivial matter (ASHTM). Participants included 220 Turkish undergraduates (136 female; M_age?=?20.00). They tended to blame women for the incidents of sexual harassment whereas they viewed sexual harassment as a very important social problem. As compared to women, men scored higher in both ASHPBW and ASHTM, suggesting that men are more tolerant of sexual harassment. For both genders, hostile sexism and benevolence toward men predicted ASHPBW. However, for only men, hostile and benevolent sexism predicted ASHTM.     

Attitudes and perceptions of workers to sexual harassment

The authors investigated how individual factors (age, gender, gender role, past experiences of sexual harassment) and organizational factors (gender ratio, sexual harassment policies, the role of employers) related to workers' attitudes toward and perceptions of sexual harassment. In Study 1, participants were 176 workers from a large, white-collar organization. In Study 2, participants were 75 workers from a smaller, blue-collar organization. Individuals from Study 2 experienced more sexual harassment, were more tolerant of sexual harassment, and perceived less behavior as sexual harassment than did individuals from Study 1. For both samples, organizational and individual factors predicted workers' attitudes toward and experiences of sexual harassment. Individual factors-such as age, gender, gender role, past experiences of sexual harassment, and perceptions of management's tolerance of sexual harassment-predicted attitudes toward sexual harassment. Workers' attitudes, the behavioral context, and the gender of the victim and perpetrator predicted perceptions of sexual harassment. The authors discussed the broader implications of these findings and suggested recommendations for future research.     

Abusive interactions and burnout: Examining occupation,gender, and the mediating role of community

Abstract

Two studies examined the association of gender and occupational group (nursing versus non-nursing) with perceived risk of abuse (sexual harassment and verbal and physical abuse) as well as the relationship of perceived abuse risk with burnout and sense of community. Study 1, comprising of two settings (tertiary care hospital, N = 3,062; psychiatric hospital, N = 383), found gender and occupational group associated with perceived risk of abuse (women felt greater risk than men; nurses felt greater risk than non-nurses). It also found a gender/occupational group interaction. Study 2, conducted at an Irish tertiary care hospital (N = 892), found nurses felt at greater risk for all three types of abuse than did non-nurses. Further, women perceived themselves at greater risk for sexual harassment and verbal abuse than did men; the study found no gender difference regarding physical abuse. The analysis identified a gender/occupational group interaction for sexual harassment. The study considers methods of reducing perceived risk in regard to the research literature on abuse at work.     

Rare male aggression directed toward females in a female‐dominated society: Baiting behavior in the spotted hyena

Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are gregarious carnivores. The females are socially dominant to males, and adult males rarely direct aggression toward adult females. This study analyzed all cases in which adult immigrant males behaved aggressively toward adult females in a large population of free‐living hyenas in Kenya, observed for 11 years. Our goals were to describe the conditions under which male attacks on females occur, and address possible adaptive functions. Most aggression directed by adult immigrant males against females occurred when coalitions of two or more males attacked a single adult female, who typically responded by defending herself and fighting back. Male aggression against females frequently occurred at sites of ungulate kills, but males never behaved aggressively toward females over food, and all male attacks on females were unprovoked. Although no mounting or other copulatory behaviors ever occurred during or immediately after an attack, the number of male attacks on females peaked around the time of conception. Daily rates at which males attacked females did not vary with female social rank. However, daily attack rates did vary significantly with female reproductive state, and the highest rates of male attack on females were observed during the two stages of the reproductive cycle during which females were most likely to conceive litters. The adaptive significance of male aggression against females in this species remains unknown, but a tight association between male attacks on females and a female's time of conception provides strong evidence of some role for male aggression in hyena sexual behavior. In particular, our data are consistent with hypotheses suggesting that male aggression toward females in this species either serves to inform females about male fitness or represents sexual harassment. Aggr. Behav. 29:457–474, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Ideology or experience? The relationships among perceptions,attitudes, and experiences of sexual harassment in university students

Relationships among sexual harassment experiences, perceptions about harassment (definitions, seriousness ratings, commonness estimates), and attitudes (about both harassment and sex roles) were examined in order to investigate the role of ideology and consciousness in the reporting of sexual harassment experiences. University students responding to a survey were divided by sex (74 males, 136 females) and level of harassment experience (high, moderate, low) in a 3×2 factorial design. Results indicated that high experiencers estimated that sexual harassment was made common among other students than those with less experience. Other perceptual variables and attitudes were unrelated to experience level. Significant sex differences were present for definitions, for the Sexual Harassment Attitude Scale, and for the Macho Scale. Significant relationships were also present among definitions, seriousness ratings, and the two attitude measures. Results suggest that reporting experiences of harassment appears relatively independent of ideology or a sensitized consciousness. Implications for issues of representativeness of samples in harassment survey research are discussed.This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant in Aid of Small Universities for UPEI.We gratefully acknowledge the invaluable work of our research assistants, Katie McInnis and Anne Marie McInnis.     

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Exploring the Effects of Attractiveness on Perception of Harassment

This study was designed to explore the effect of attractiveness on perceptions of sexual harassment. Male and female college students (N = 150) rated four scenarios depicting ambiguous incidents of sexual harassment, each paired with photos of a male boss and a female secretary. Male and female attractiveness was varied in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Participants were asked to rate each photo on a series of traits before making harassment judgments. Overall, females perceived more harassment. The behavior of attractive males was less likely to be seen as harassing. Attractive females were more likely to be seen as harassed, especially when the potential harasser was unattractive. The possible mechanisms underlying the effects of attractiveness were explored with the results supporting a direct effect of stereotypes over a mediating role for implicit personality theories.     

Hispanic and majority student attitudes toward forcible date rape as a function of differences in attitudes toward women

Less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape are related to more traditional attitudes toward women, as measured by the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (G. J. Fischer, “College Student Attitudes Toward Forcible Date Rape. I. Cognitive Predictors,” Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1986, 15, 457–466). Does this relation reflect more traditional or more negative attitudes toward women? If the former, then an ethnic minority having still more traditional attitudes toward women (than the nonethnic majority), also should be less rejecting of forcible date rape. This hypothesis was assessed by surveying attitudes of bicultural and bilingual Hispanic, other self-reported Hispanics, and nonethnic majority college students from a large introductory sociology class in a large Southwestern university. Results showed that Hispanics, overall, (1) had more traditional attitudes toward women than nonethnic majority and (2) as hypothesized, had less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape. However, these effects were not a simple function of ethnicity, at least not for males. For example, bicultural and bilingual Hispanic males were least likely to blame the male for the forcible date rape, but were no less rejecting of such behavior than other Hispanic males and had no more traditional attitudes toward women than other Hispanic or majority males. Bicultural and bilingual Hispanic females, on the other hand, were most likely to blame the male, had the least rejecting attitudes toward date rape, and had the most traditional attitudes toward women. one interpretation is that exposure to less restrictive sex roles of the majority culture is a liberating influence on Hispanic females, but not on Hispanic males who, perhaps, see more liberal attitudes toward women as having no or even negative payoff. Differences found between Hispanics who are bicultural and bilingual and other self-reported Hispanics suggest that these groups should not be combined, and that a research sample needs to be defined more specifically than “Hispanic.”     

Heteronormativity,Disgust Sensitivity,and Hostile Attitudes toward Gay Men: Potential Mechanisms to Maintain Social Hierarchies

Within a social hierarchy based on sexual orientation, heteronormative ideology serves as a social force that maintains dominant group members’ status (e.g., heterosexual men). Disgust may be an emotional reaction to gay men’s violation of heteronormativity (i.e., same-sex sexual behavior) and motivate hostile attitudes toward gay men to promote interpersonal and intergroup boundaries. Based on this theoretical framework, we hypothesized that sexual disgust—compared to pathogen or moral disgust—would be most strongly associated with antigay hostility and would statistically mediate its relationship with heteronormativity. Heterosexual men in the United States (n?=?409) completed an online questionnaire assessing heteronormative ideology, disgust sensitivity, and hostile attitudes toward gay men. Results support the hypotheses and suggest that gay men’s sexual behavior is the most likely elicitor of disgust and antigay hostility, as opposed to a perceived pathogen threat or moral transgression. The findings indicate that heteronormative attitudes and sexual disgust are likely contributors to antigay hostility. Thus, intervention efforts should seek to improve tolerance of same-sex sexual behavior among heterosexual men, which may mitigate emotional reactions and hostile attitudes toward gay men.

     

Asian and Non-Asian Attitudes Toward Rape,Sexual Harassment,and Sexuality

The purpose of this study was to explore potential differences between Asian and non-Asian university students in attitudes toward coercive and noncoercive sexual behavior. Four hundred women and men (205 Asian, 195 non-Asian) were assessed on attitudes towards rape, sexual harassment, and general sexual behavior. Length of residency in Canada for Asian respondents was examined to determine whether Westernization might attenuate differences. Analysis revealed that Asian students were significantly more conservative in attitudes toward sexual behavior. Asian students were also more tolerant of rape myths and more accepting of sexual harassment. Asian respondents demonstrated a decrease in tolerance for rape myths and sexual harassment as length of residency in Canada increased. Women were less conservative than men from the same background on almost all items.     

An Examination of Young Adolescents' Knowledge of and Attitude Toward Sexuality According to Perceived Contraceptive Responsibility1

A total of 442 ninth-grade, black, inner city adolescents participated in a survey of their knowledge of human reproduction, level of self-esteem, and attitudes toward birth control and sexual intercourse. Ninety-two percent of the females and 33% of the males responded that they or they and their partner were responsible for using birth control. The 148 males perceiving contraceptive responsibility as belonging to their partner or no one were most accepting of sexual intercourse and agreed that teenage parenthood is an index of adulthood. Girls were nearly unanimous in their low level of acceptance of sexual intercourse. Annual birth statistics from their high school indicate, however, that a minimum of 13% of these ninth-grade girls will become pregnant in the ensuing academic year. The apparent contradictions of young adolescents' knowledge of and attitudes toward sexuality are discussed in the context of developmental theory.     

Effects of gender and sex role orientation on help-seeking attitudes

This study investigated the effects of gender and sex role orientation (masculinity and femininity) on attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help in a sample of 163 student trainee teachers (52 males and 111 females) in Singapore. The mean age of students was 25.39 years (SD = 3.80). ANOVAs revealed statistically significant main effects for gender and femininity on attitudes toward help-seeking. Specifically, females were reported to have more positive overall attitudes toward professional help-seeking and were more willing to recognize a personal need for professional help compared to males. Femininity significantly influenced students’ level of stigma tolerance. These findings suggest that both gender and sex role orientation play an independent role in influencing help-seeking attitudes. In addition, these variables appear to have a differential impact on different aspects of helpseeking.