Individual deviance model ... Structural models ...

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Psychology 245

• Sexual Harassment in Organizations
• Special Topic

not in textbook
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sexual harassment

• Sexual harassment
• defined as offensive, sex-related behavior.
• unwanted attention at workplace
• from men to women

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Sexual Harassment

• Models of sexual harassment
• Natural/biological model
• Sexual harassment (SH) is part of the natural
  interactions between men and women.
• Individual deviance model
• Something about the harasser certain attitudes
  toward women, personality, acceptance of myths
  causes them to engage in Sexual Harassment (SH).
• Structural models
• Culture, demographic makeup or other
  characteristics of the organization give rise to
  a climate that makes SH more likely to occur.
• male dominated organization

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Legal classification of SH

• Legal
• Quid pro quo -- this for that
• Attempts to extort sexual cooperation through
  subtle or explicit threats of job-related
  consequences.
• Hostile environment
• Pervasive verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
  nature that is offensive and unwelcome
• Behavior that places woman as a sexual being

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Behavioral classification of SH

• Gender animosity/harassment
• Offensive, derogatory, or misogynistic (hating
  women) verbal, physical or symbolic behavior
  w.r.t sex.
• Designed not to elicit sexual cooperation but
  rather to convey sexist, demeaning or hostile
  attitudes about women.
• E.g. Dont worry your pretty little head about
  all those numbers.

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More behavioral definitions

• Unwanted Sexual Attention
• Sexual attention of a verbal or physical nature
  that is unwarranted, repeated and/or offensive
• but that carries no explicit or implied
  job-related benefit or loss.
• E.g. An unsolicited back-rub.
• Sexual Coercion
• The implicit or explicit conditioning of a
  job-related benefit or loss on sexual or social
  cooperation.
• Eg If you sleep with me, Ill give you a
  raise.
• Eg If you dont sleep with me, life could get
  very difficult for you around here.

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Relationships between the classification systems
Gender Harassment
Unwanted Sexual Attention
Sexual Coercion
its the guys who exhibit some behavior that are
more likely to go all the way
Hostile Environment
Quid Pro Quo
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Research Approach

• Conceptualization of sexual harassment as one
  type of job stressor.
• Stressor An environmental event that is
  perceived by an individual to be threatening.
• As with any stress, research focus is on
• Measurement of stressor
• antecedents
• consequences

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Measurement of SH

• Labeling approach
• Ask respondent if she has experienced SH.
• Item based approach
• Fitzgeralds Sexual Experiences Questionnaire
  (SEQ).
• Specific questions about what behaviors or
  experiences individuals have encountered at work.
• Eg someone cracked sexist jokes at work
• you were denied opportunities for promotion
  because of a refusal to comply with sexual
  favors.
• Strongly Agree - Strongly Disagree

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Dispositional antecedents of sexual harassment

• Who is likely to harass?
• Men with certain dispositional/personality
  characteristics are likely to harass when
  organizational conditions allow them to do so.
• Characteristics
• 1. Have difficulty assuming others perspectives
  (cant emphathsize)
• 2. Endorse traditional sex-role stereotypes
• 3. High in authoritarianism
• 4. High likelihood of rape (if undetectable)
• However, by far the best predictors of sexual
  harassment are organizational/situational.

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Organizational antecedents of sexual harassment

• Job Gender Context
• Skewed gender ratio (favoring men) of employees.
  Guys club
• A predominance of male supervisors
• Jobs traditionally reserved for men

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• Organizational Context
• Tolerant Organizational Climate
• 1. Lenient management norms
• 2. Managers model inappropriate behavior
• 3. Sexual workplace (stripclubs on lunch)
• 4. Lack of clear policies and procedures
• Leads employees to believe that
• 1. Sexual harassment is not taken seriously
• 2. It is risky to complain about harassment
• 3. There is little likelihood of meaningful
  sanctions for harassers

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Gutek (1985)

• Conducted telephone interviews
• 827 working women, 405 working men.
• Major finding
• SH more common in organizations where flirting
  and swearing were commonplace.
• Conclusion
• SH is part of a cluster of unprofessional
  behavior and attitudes that characterizes some
  work place

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Consequences of sexual harassment

• Job-Related
• Impaired relationships with supervisors and
  coworkers
• less commitment to organization
• more Work Withdrawal and Job Withdrawal
• Psychological and Physiological
• Decreased self esteem, life satisfaction and
  satisfaction with health.
• Increased anxiety, depression and risk of eating
  disorders and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• Increased fatigue, headaches.

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• Consequences for non-harassed women employees
• Sexual harassment is ambient.
• It creates a stressful environment even for women
  not directly harassed.
• Consequences similar to those for harassed women.

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Reporting sexual harassment

• Contrary to public belief, complaints of sexual
  harassment are relatively rare.
• 3 Factors related to reporting
• Frequency and severity of behavior (vely
  related)
• Supportive organizational climate (vely related)
• Power of perpetrator (-vely related)
• the more powerful he is, the less likely you are
  to report

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Effectiveness of reporting

• Every research study on this topic has concluded
  that reporting either
• Makes no difference, or
• Makes things worse
• Given the immense psychological and economic
  costs to individuals who use formal action, in
  contrast to the potentially meager gains, it is
  not surprising that so few victims choose this
  response.
• Livingstone (1982, p. 15)