Attributions and Assignment of Responsibility in Sexual Harassment

Abstract

Although research has investigated the extent to which sexual harassment exists and what people are or are not doing about it, little has been written about the personal attributions made for these behaviors by either those who have or those who have not been sexually harassed. Research on rape and the assignment of responsiblity for a rape may be useful as a base from which to generalize about sexual harassment and the various ways in which victims and viewers respond to it. This study consists of data from an initial survey investigating the occurrence of sexual harassment at the workplace and follow‐up interviews with female workers who reported in the initial survey having been sexually harassed. The research focused on the application of attribution theory in four areas: 1) sex differences in assignment of responsibility for sexual harassment, 2) effects of having experienced sexual harassment on assignment of responsibility, 3) self‐blame in cases of sexual harassment and its affective and work‐related effects, 4) the role of sex‐role beliefs on assignment of responsibility to self and others. One of the stronger findings of the study concerned the role of sex‐role beliefs. Women who have traditional sex‐role beliefs are more likely to blame themselves and other victims for being sexually harassed.