Organizational Resources for Addressing Sexual Harassment

The author acknowledges the difficulties in arriving at a definition of sexual harassment. Employing a definition that has become commonplace, she distinguishes between quid pro quo and hostile environment harassment. The obligations of organizations are outlined and attention is given to the development of appropriate policies and procedures. The effect of the organization's climate on institutional responsiveness to this issue is discussed, and pertinent educational and training interventions are provided.     

Organizational Costs of Sexual Harassment

Working women were surveyed regarding their probable initial reactions to different forms of sexual harassment. Many indicated they would either quit their jobs or report sexual harassment to external authorities. Discusses organizational costs of sexual harassment, ways of preventing such costs, and implications for employment counselors.     

Perceptions of Sexual Harassment Victims as a Function of Labeling and Reporting

This experimental study used an ambiguous sexualharassment scenario, and manipulated gender and level ofphysical attractiveness within a perpetrator/victimdyad. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of sexual harassment of maleand female students as well as perceptions ofperpetrator and victim character traits. Twohundred-ninety six male and 295 female undergraduate andgraduate students at a large urban university were askedto read the scenario and describe behavior and charactertraits for perpetrator and victim using a seven-pointsemantic differential scale. Eighty-four percent (n = 495) of the sample were White, 5.3% (n =31) were African American, 5.9% (n = 39) were ofHispanic origin, and 4.7% (n = 28) marked other forrace/ethnicity. Results indicate that female studentsperceived the scenario as more sexually harassing thanmale students. However, both men and women judged femaleperpetrators less harshly than male perpetrators. Bothmen and women were influenced by perpetrator attractiveness: they perceived an attractiveopposite gender perpetrator as less harassing than asame gender attractive perpetrator.     

Sexual Harassment and the Cultures of Childhood

ABSTRACT

Sexual harassment is increasingly recognized as a common problem for schoolchildren. Four out of five 8th through 11th graders have experienced some form of sexual harassment in their school lives. Of the girls who experience harassment, 38% report that they were first harassed in 6th grade or before (AAUW, 2001). We propose that children construct a peer-based «school society» where attitudes and behaviors are strongly connected to peer group influence and concerns about social status. School-based peer sexual harassment emerges from a climate of tense, unequal social relations between boys and girls during middle childhood, accelerating into adolescence. One unexplored possibility is that some boys with high social status among their peers may engage in or encourage harassment of girls. Next, we turn to a distinct social context embedded within the school society: relationships of abuse between boy and girl peers. We explore how the dynamics of domestic violence apply to sexual harassment between peers, illustrating themes from narratives of child sexual harassment victims derived from interviews and legal cases. We also use these narratives to examine the institutional responses to sexual harassment by school authorities, identifying the parallels to domestic violence legal solutions. Our discussion emphasizes how school service providers can better appreciate and react to the social and relational context of boys' harassment of girls.     

Social Dominance and Sexual Self-Schema as Moderators of Sexist Reactions to Female Subtypes

Theoretically, ambivalent sexism maintains gender hierarchy through benevolence toward conforming women but hostility toward nonconforming women. Men have shown ambivalent sexism to sex-typed vignettes describing “chaste” and “promiscuous” women (Sibley and Wilson 2004). This study of 117 Florida male and female undergraduate participants examined whether, benefiting more from gender hierarchy, men respond more extremely. If sexism supports gender hierarchy, social dominance also should moderate ambivalent sexism. Sexual self-schema (detailed, self-confident sexual information-processing) might moderate men’s and women's hostility. Supporting ambivalent sexism theory, women's hostility targeted the promiscuous character, but their benevolence targeted the chaste character, with men unexpectedly differentiating less. Social dominance enhanced Hostile Sexism and its differentiating the two female subtypes. Sexual self-schema moderated women’s but not men’s hostility.     

A Test of Subordinates' Achievement and Affiliation Needs as Moderators of Leader Path-Goal Relationships

The path-goal theory of leadership proposes that situational and subordinates' characteristics moderate the effectiveness of various leader behaviors. A great deal of research has been devoted to the examination of situational moderators. This study tested the moderating influences of subordinates' needs for achievement and affiliation on the relationships between instrumental and supportive leadership and subordinates' satisfaction. Using a sample of 298 Army and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets, need for achievement, but not need for affiliation, was found to moderate the influences of both leader behaviors on subordinate satisfaction. Individuals with high need for achievement were demonstrated to prefer instrumental leadership, whereas individuals' with low need for achievement preferred supportive leader behaviors. Implications of these results, and the need for future research concerning the moderating properties of subordinates' characteristics on path-goal relationships, are discussed.     

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.     

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.     

Judgments of Sexual Harassment Court Case Summaries

Understanding third-person judgments of sexual harassment is important because of their role in bystander intervention, popular opinion, and perhaps even labeling experiences as harassment. We employed Brunswikian principles of representative design (sampling from natural environments and allowing environmental factors influencing judgments to intercorrelate) and multiple regression plus relative weight analyses to examine judgments about summaries of actual U.S. sexual harassment court cases. Potential factors influencing judgments (cues) were identified and coded by raters. Results suggest that naturally occurring cues were intercorrelated to some extent, and people use different aspects of these rich situations to make judgments. We also found that some less-studied cues (i.e., target's withdrawal from the workplace, number of incidents) are more important than that the previous research would suggest, while some often-studied cues (i.e., status of the harasser, target's response to the harasser) are less important. Participants overall used very few cues, even when many were available. Future research should employ Brunswik's representative design to use more realistic scenarios that allow for intercorrelated, naturally occurring cues. Especially if results can be replicated, theories about how judgments of sexual harassment are made can be developed that reflect the complex realities of sexual harassment judgments that our study revealed. Representative design could also be employed to help theory development in other scenario-based areas of organizational research. Ours is the first study of judgments of sexual harassment that used a Brunswikian approach to study actual court case summaries. This has allowed for a unique examination of this complicated phenomenon.     

Exploring Retaliation as a Coping Strategy in Response to Customer Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment has long been studied as a gendered form of discrimination and a way to assert social dominance. Women working in customer service positions regularly cope with customer sexual harassment (CSH). This paper reports two studies that examine retaliation toward the customer as a way for service workers to both assert power and to cope when faced with CSH. The first study predicted that retaliation would share a common superordinate factor structure with four traditional coping strategies (i.e., social, advocacy seeking, avoidance, and negotiation). The second study hypothesized a latent variable model in which retaliation serves as a buffer between CSH and posttraumatic stress. Additionally, customer power was hypothesized as an antecedent to CSH and retaliation. Both studies used samples of women undergraduate students who were employed at least 10 hours per week as customer service workers in the southeastern U.S. The first study (N?=?194) found support for the hypothesized factor structure; retaliation was related to, but distinguishable from more traditional styles of sexual harassment coping. The second study (N?=?210) found support for the proposed mediational model. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.     

Measuring Sexual Harassment: Theoretical and Psychometric Advances

This article describes a program of research designed to yield a conceptually grounded, psychometrically sound instrument for assessing the incidence and prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace. Following the specification of a theoretical framework that is consistent with both legal guidelines and psychological research, we review the development and evaluation of a three-dimensional model of sexual harassment (gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion). Based on this model, we describe the development of a revised version of the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ; Fitzgerald et al., 1988). Following extensive pilot work, the instrument was field tested in a large regulated utility. Data from 448 employed women (professional, technical, clerical and blue collar workers) support the reliability of the scales, and confirmatory factor analysis in this new sample confirms the stability and generalizability of the theoretical model. Following a brief review of validity data recently reported in the literature, implications for further measurement improvements are discussed.     

Factors Associated with Peer Sexual Harassment Victimization Among Taiwanese Adolescents

This study examined the individual and interpersonal factors of peer sexual harassment victimization among Taiwanese adolescents. A random sample of 1,376 7th to 9th grade middle school students in Taichung City, Taiwan, completed questionnaires about their demographics, delinquency, peer/teacher interaction, and experience of being sexually harassed by peers. Approximately 25.4% of the respondents had suffered peer sexual harassment during the previous semester. Boys reported more exposure to sexual harassment than did girls. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed separately for boys and girls. Significant risk factors of peer sexual harassment victimization for both genders included being bullied by peers and teacher maltreatment. Boys’ sexual harassment victimization was also associated with their involvement in fights. Peer relationship problems contributed to girls’ sexual harassment victimization. These findings suggested the relevance of a hostile school climate to peer sexual harassment and the gender differences in risk factors.     

The Development and Evaluation of a Sexual Harassment Inventory

This study represents a beginning in the development of a questionnaire designed to measure sensitivity to the impact of sexual and nonsexual harassment. Specifically, the Harassment Sensitivity Inventory (HSI) is an 18-item inventory developed to assess sensitivity to the negative effects of male to female sexual and nonsexual harassment in a work setting. This article describes the development of the HSI and discusses initial psychometric data collected with a sample of managers and supervisors employed by a midwestern municipality. Although additional research is needed to further clarify the validity and reliability of the HSI, the instrument holds promise as a mechanism for exploring attitudes of individuals who may perpetrate, permit, or experience harassing behaviors. The HSI may have a future role in the development and evaluation of programs designed to prevent or alleviate harassing behaviors.     

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.     

College Students' Judgments of Verbal Sexual Harassment1

Most studies of sexual harassment focus on physical coercion or pressure for sexual favors. This research attempts to outline the factors involved in verbal sexual harassment, which is conceived of as a speech act similar to taboo language, with conversational “rules” and semantic categories that differentiate it from merely inappropriate language. One hundred thirty-seven college students rated 37 sexual remarks for degrees of sexual harassment and inappropriateness. Total harassment scores correlated with total appropriateness scores at r = .68; although harassment ratings were high, remarks were judged more inappropriate than harassing. Five harassment factors and six appropriateness factors emerged. Women rated harassment factors of euphemisms and obscenity as significantly more harassing, and appropriateness factors of objectification, belittling competency, and name calling as more inappropriate. We conclude that men, who are less likely to be targets of harassment, are more used to taboo language and “naming” games, and are reluctant to admit to harassment, even when remarks are deemed inappropriate. Practical implications for defining verbal sexual harassment are discussed.     

Tolerance of Sexual Harassment: An Examination of Gender Differences,Ambivalent Sexism,Social Dominance,and Gender Roles

In this study we examined the effects of gender, gender roles (masculinity and femininity), ambivalent sexism, and social dominance orientation with regard to tolerance of sexual harassment. It was predicted that women would be less tolerant than men of sexual harassment, however, men and women who were tolerant of sexual harassment would share ambivalence and hostility toward women, and they would exhibit higher levels of social dominance and masculinity. Results partially supported the hypotheses. Women were significantly less tolerant of harassment than men were, however, regression analyses showed that ambivalent sexism and hostility toward women accounted for the majority of total variance (35%), followed by gender (5%), social dominance (1%), femininity (0.7%), and nonsexism (0.6%). Masculinity and benevolent sexism were not significant predictors. Results suggest that ambivalence and hostility toward women are much greater predictors of tolerance of sexual harassment than is gender alone.     

Assessment of Sexual Harassment in the Active-Duty Navy

This article reviews past research and the series of events that led to the implementation in 1989 of a biennial U.S. Navy-wide survey of sexual harass- ment for active-duty personnel. Results from the most recent administration of this survey in 1991 are presented and compared to the 1989 findings. In 1991, 44% of enlisted women and 33% of female officers indicated that they had been sexually harassed during the 1-year survey period. Small percentages of en- listed men (8%) and male officers (2%) reported being sexually harassed during the same period. These percentages represent a significant increase from those found in 1989 for two groups: female officers and enlisted men. Specific information regarding the forms of sexual harassment behaviors, the character- istics of victims and perpetrators, actions taken following harassment, and the effects of the harassment experience are presented. Last, data exploring meth- odological issues in the measurement of sexual harassment through surveys are presented and discussed.