Sex and ethnicity as moderators in the sexual harassment phenomenon: A revision and test of Fitzgerald et al. (1994).

Fitzgerald, Hulin, and Drasgow (1994) proposed that personal vulnerability characteristics (such as sex and ethnicity) would moderate the effect of sexual harassment on its outcomes. This paper argues that personal vulnerability characteristics instead moderate the effect of organizational sexual harassment climate on sexual harassment because of their role as identity markers within social hierarchies. Using a sample of nearly 8,000 male and female military personnel from four ethnicity groups, the proposition that organizational climate differentially affects sexual harassment frequency across sex and ethnicity was evaluated. Results suggested that sex is an important moderator of these relationships, but that ethnicity is not. Further, sex and ethnicity were not found to moderate the effect of sexual harassment on its outcomes. Potential generalizability of these results to other types of harassment (e.g., racial harassment, bullying), as well as needed future research in this area, is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural equation models of sexual harassment: Longitudinal explorations and cross-sectional generalizations.

Sexual harassment and its corresponding outcomes develop and change over time, yet research on this issue has been limited primarily to cross-sectional data. In this article, longitudinal models of harassment were proposed and empirically evaluated via structural equations modeling using data from 217 women who responded to a computerized questionnaire in 1994 and again in 1996. Results indicate that sexual harassment influences both proximal and distal work-related variables (e.g., job satisfaction, work withdrawal, job withdrawal) and psychological outcomes (e.g., life satisfaction, psychological well-being, distress). In addition, a replication of the L. F. Fitzgerald, F. Drasgow, C. L. Hulin, M. J. Gelfand, and V. J. Magley (1997) model of harassment was supported. This research was an initial attempt to develop integrated models of the dynamic effects of sexual harassment over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test of the cross-cultural generalizability of a model of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment research has been primarily limited to examination of the phenomena in U.S. organizations; attempts to explore the generalizability of constructs and theoretical models across cultures are rare. This study examined (a) the measurement equivalence of survey scales in U.S. and Turkish samples using mean and covariance structure analysis and (b) the generalizability of the L. F. Fitzgerald, F. Drasgow, C. L. Hulin, M. J. Gelfand, and V. I Magley (1997) model of sexual harassment to the Turkish context using structural equations modeling. Analyses used questionnaire data from 336 Turkish women and 455 women from the United States. The results indicate that, in general, the survey scales demonstrate measurement equivalence and the pattern of relationships in the Fitzgerald et al. model generalizes to the Turkish culture. These results support the usefulness of the model for explaining sexual harassment experiences in a variety of organizational and cultural contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Labeling sexual harassment in the military: An extension and replication.

Research conducted by V. Magley, C. Hulin, L. F. Fitzgerald, and M. DeNardo (1999) has suggested that women who experience sexual harassment report worse outcomes independent of the labeling process. This study replicates and extends that work. Discriminant analyses were conducted on a sample of approximately 28,000 men and women from the military. The authors included variables similar to those used by V. Magley et al., as well as a variety of antecedent variables. Two significant functions were obtained from the discriminant analysis. The 1st function ordered groups according to the frequency of harassment and accounted for substantially more variance than did the 2nd function, which ordered groups according to whether they labeled their experiences as sexual harassment. The overall results from these analyses demonstrate that labeling incidents as sexual harassment is of marginal meaningfulness in terms of job outcomes and antecedents of harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping in context: Sociocultural determinants of responses to sexual harrassment.

The authors investigated coping responses to sexual harassment across 4 samples of working women from 3 cultures and 2 occupational classes. Complete-link cluster analyses provide preliminary support for D. E. Knapp, R. H. Faley, S. E. Ekeberg, and C. L. Z. Dubois's (1997) coping framework, suggesting that avoidance, denial, negotiation, advocacy seeking, and social coping are universal responses to sexual harassment. Further, L. F. Fitzgerald's (1990) internal-extemal dichotomy appears to capture higher order relationships among coping responses. In addition, regression analyses suggest that Turkish and Hispanic American women engage in more avoidance than Anglo American women, and Hispanic women also use more denial but less advocacy seeking. No differences emerged in social coping. The authors discuss these results in the context of coping theory, individualism-collectivism, power distance, and patriarchal gender norms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial and ethnic harassment and discrimination: In the eye of the beholder?

The nature, rate, and higher-order relationships among facets of racial/ethnic harassment (REH) and discrimination (RED) were examined across five racial/ethnic groups in a sample of 5,000 US military personnel. Using a hierarchical, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis approach, results suggest that the nature of REH and RED do not differ by race, with behavioral items equally representing REH and RED across the different groups. Further, higher-order relationships among the facets of REH and RED do not vary across race, with a single second-order factor accounting for the relationships. This single factor is theorized to represent a root intergroup prejudice that leads to harassment and discrimination. However, as anticipated, individuals from minority groups generally reported higher levels of REH and RED once measurement equivalence has been established. Together, the results suggest that both intergroup prejudice (which is multidirectional) and racism (which originates in powerful groups against other groups) are operating in REH and RED experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of racial and sexual harassment on work and the psychological well-being of African American women.

Research on workplace harassment has typically examined either racial or sexual harassment, without studying both simultaneously. As a result, it remains unknown whether the co-occurrence of racial and sexual harassment or their interactive effects account for unique variance in work and psychological well-being. In this study, hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to explore the influence of racial and sexual harassment on these outcomes among 91 African American women involved in a sexual harassment employment lawsuit. Results indicated that both sexual and racial harassment contributed significantly to the women's occupational and psychological outcomes. Moreover, their interaction was statistically significant when predicting supervisor satisfaction and perceived organizational tolerance of harassment. Using a sample of African American women employed in an organizational setting where harassment was known to have occurred and examining sexual and racial harassment concomitantly makes this study unique. As such, it provides novel insights and an important contribution to an emerging body of research and underscores the importance of assessing multiple forms of harassment when examining organizational stressors, particularly among women of color. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When leaders harass: The impact of target perceptions of organizational leadership and climate on harassment reporting and outcomes.

Using cases of harassment by leaders, the authors examined the effects of target perceptions of leader responses to sexual harassment and whether leader implementation of harassment policies made a difference beyond the impact of the policies themselves. Results showed that women who perceived that leaders made honest efforts to stop harassment felt significantly freer to report harassment, were more satisfied with the complaint process, and reported greater commitment than did those viewing leaders as more harassment tolerant. Different leadership levels had different effects, with hierarchically proximal leaders generally having the greatest impact. Leadership mediated the relationship between organizational policy and outcomes, supporting the view that a key role for leaders is establishing an ethical organizational climate that reinforces formal harassment policies through actions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing victim attributions and outcomes for workplace aggression and sexual harassment.

In 2 studies, we investigated victim attributions (Study 1) and outcomes (Study 2) for workplace aggression and sexual harassment. Drawing on social categorization theory, we argue that victims of workplace aggression and sexual harassment may make different attributions about their mistreatment. In Study 1, we investigated victim attributions in an experimental study. We hypothesized that victims of sexual harassment are more likely than victims of workplace aggression to depersonalize their mistreatment and attribute blame to the perpetrator or the perpetrator's attitudes toward their gender. In contrast, victims of workplace aggression are more likely than victims of sexual harassment to personalize the mistreatment and make internal attributions. Results supported our hypotheses. On the basis of differential attributions for these 2 types of mistreatment, we argue that victims of workplace aggression may experience stronger adverse outcomes than victims of sexual harassment. In Study 2, we compared meta-analytically the attitudinal, behavioral, and health outcomes of workplace aggression and sexual harassment. Negative outcomes of workplace aggression were stronger in magnitude than those of sexual harassment for 6 of the 8 outcome variables. Implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling victims of sexual harassment.

Describes therapeutic experiences with 10 sexual harassment victims in individual therapy and 7 sexual harassment victims in group therapy and compares them with data from sexual employment surveys and with other crime populations. Findings reveal that victims progressed through stages of feelings including confusion/self-blame, fear/anxiety, depression/anger, and disillusionment. The stress of sexual harassment was also affected by a history of prior victimization and by the victim's involvement in a formal complaint process related to the harassment. The group setting was found to be more effective than individual treatment for coping with the specific effects of sexual harassment, and Ss in group therapy used the group to understand their experience, sort through legal and employment decisions, learn new coping skills, and develop support for each other. Victims of sexual harassment differed from victims of crime: The primary effects of the harassment were on economic and career well-being; the secondary effects were on private relationships and physical well-being. The reverse is true for victims of crime. Therapeutic complications arising from the therapist's involvement in court proceedings and organizational remedies are also described. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer harassment, psychological adjustment, and school functioning in early adolescence.

The relations between peer harassment, psychological adjustment, and school functioning were investigated with an ethnically diverse sample of middle school students. A conceptual model, which proposed that self-perceived peer harassment predicts psychological adjustment (loneliness, depression, and self-worth), which in turn predicts school outcomes (GPA and attendance), was tested using concurrent data (n?=?244). Structural equation modeling supported the proposed model. Longitudinal analyses with a subsample (n?=?106) of students revealed that subjective self-views of victimization were moderately stable across a 1-year period. Comparisons across stable and unstable victim groups suggested that concurrent (rather than earlier or chronic) perceptions of victimization predicted loneliness and self-worth. Finally, changes in subjective perceptions of victimization, self-worth, and loneliness across the 1-year period predicted subsequent GPA, absenteeism, and teacher-rated social adjustment. Findings are discussed in terms of the short- and long-term effects of peer harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Once, twice, or three times as harmful? Ethnic harassment, gender harassment, and generalized workplace harassment.

Despite scholars’ and practitioners’ recognition that different forms of workplace harassment often co-occur in organizations, there is a paucity of theory and research on how these different forms of harassment combine to influence employees’ outcomes. We investigated the ways in which ethnic harassment (EH), gender harassment (GH), and generalized workplace harassment (GWH) combined to predict target individuals’ job-related, psychological, and health outcomes. Competing theories regarding additive, exacerbating, and inuring (i.e., habituating to hardships) combinations were tested. We also examined race and gender differences in employees’ reports of EH, GH, and GWH. The results of two studies revealed that EH, GH, and GWH were each independently associated with targets’ strain outcomes and, collectively, the preponderance of evidence supported the inurement effect, although slight additive effects were observed for psychological and physical health outcomes. Racial group differences in EH emerged, but gender and race differences in GH and GWH did not. Implications are provided for how multiple aversive experiences at work may harm employees’ well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal and organizational predictors of workplace sexual harassment of women by men.

The authors investigated the predictors of workplace sexual harassment in 278 male university faculty and staff (M age?=?45 years). Workplace variables (perceptions of organizational sanctions against harassment and perceptions of a sexualized workplace) and personal variables (adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual harassment beliefs, perspective taking, and self-esteem) were studied as predictors of sexualized and gender harassment. Social desirability was controlled. Both organizational variables and beliefs about sexual harassment predicted gender harassment and sexualized harassment. Perspective taking, adversarial sexual beliefs, and sexual harassment beliefs moderated the effects of perceived organizational sanctions against harassment on sexualized harassment. Findings are discussed as they relate to organizational efforts to reduce or prevent sexual harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job-related and psychological effects of sexual harassment in the workplace: Empirical evidence from two organizations.

Previous evidence regarding the outcomes of sexual harassment in the workplace has come mainly from self-selected samples or analogue studies or those using inadequate measures. The sexual harassment experiences, coping responses, and job-related and psychological outcomes of 447 female private-sector employees and 300 female university employees were examined. Discriminant function analyses indicated that women who had not been harassed and women who had experienced low, moderate, and high frequencies of harassment could be distinguished on the basis of both job-related and psychological outcomes. These outcomes could not be attributed to negative affective disposition, attitudes toward harassment, or general job stress. Results suggest that relatively low-level but frequent types of sexual harassment can have significant negative consequences for working women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal Mistreatment in the Workplace: The Interface and Impact of General Incivility and Sexual Harassment.

This article examined the relationships and outcomes of behaviors falling at the interface of general and sexual forms of interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace. Data were collected with surveys of two different female populations (Ns=833 and 1,425) working within a large public-sector organization. Findings revealed that general incivility and sexual harassment were related constructs, with gender harassment bridging the two. Moreover, these behaviors tended to co-occur in organizations, and employee well-being declined with the addition of each type of mistreatment to the workplace experience. This behavior type (or behavior combination) effect remained significant even after controlling for behavior frequency. The findings are interpreted from perspectives on sexual aggression, social power, and multiple victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The sexual harassment of men: Evidence for a broader theory of sexual harassment and sex discrimination.

The article imposes a social science framework on a law-based theory of sexual harassment forwarded by Katherine Franke (1997), which sought to address shortcomings of extant theory and to account for atypical forms of sexual harassment, notably male same-sex sexual harassment (SSSH). Sex-role spillover theory, sexual harassment climate theory, and Person × Situation theory are discussed with regard to their ability to account for SSSH. Preliminary postulates of this framework are tested with data from the 1995 Department of Defense sexual harassment survey of the U.S. military (J. E. Edwards, T. W. Elig, D. L. Edwards, & R. A. Riemer (1997). The results suggest that SSSH occurs because targeted men do not fit their offenders' gender-role stereotype of heterosexual hypermasculinity. Legal and workplace implications are discussed in an effort to expand existing theories and policies regarding sexual harassment to this more encompassing view. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The (un)reasonableness of reporting: Antecedents and consequences of reporting sexual harassment.

This study places the reporting of sexual harassment within an integrated model of the sexual harassment process. Two structural models were developed and tested in a sample (N=6,417) of male and female military personnel. The 1st model identifies determinants and effects of reporting; reporting did not improve--and at times worsened--job, psychological, and health outcomes. The authors argue that organizational responses to reports (i.e., organizational remedies, organizational minimization, and retaliation) as well as procedural satisfaction can account for these negative effects. The 2nd model examines these mediating mechanisms; results suggest that these mediators, and not reporting itself, are the source of the negative effects of reporting. Organizational and legal implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual harassment and health among male and female police officers.

The aims of this study were to investigate whether sexual harassment is related to mental and physical health of both men and women, and to explore the possible moderating effects of gender on the relation between sexual harassment and health. In addition, we investigated whether women were more often bothered by sexual harassment than men, and whether victims who report being bothered by the harassment experience more health problems compared to victims who did not feel bothered. A representative sample of 3,001 policemen and 1,295 policewomen in the Dutch police force filled out an Internet questionnaire. It appeared that women were more often bothered by sexual harassment than men, but gender did not moderate the relation between sexual harassment and mental and physical health. In addition, victims who felt bothered by the harassing behaviors reported more mental and physical health problems than victims who did not feel bothered. The distinction between bothered and nonbothered victims is important because appraisal is an essential aspect in the operationalization of sexual harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding a link between sexual harassment and eating disorder symptoms: A mediational analysis.

Using data from 3 samples of working women and men, the present study examines the association between sexual harassment and eating disorder symptoms by studying the processes that may underlie this relationship. The results of structural equation modeling suggest a link between sexual harassment and eating disorder symptoms among women and indicate that this relationship is mediated by psychological distress, self-esteem, and self-blame. Further, sexual harassment was found to predict eating disorder symptoms among women even when experiences of sexual assault were included in the model. No relationship was found between sexual harassment and eating disorder symptoms among men. The theoretical and clinical implications of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)