Sexual harassment: In the eye of the beholder?

Abstract

This study examined different perceptions of sexual harassment behaviors in a workplace setting, based on the characteristics of the person observing harassment. Participants rated they extent to which they detected sexual harassment across a series of vignettes of varying levels of sexual harassment ambiguity. Participants’ (observers of the sexual harassment) gender, race, sexual orientation, and whether the individual had received sexual harassment training were examined. Interactions among these observer characteristics were also examined, in order to examine differences in perceptions of sexual harassment related to observers’ membership in intersectional groups. The results of the study indicated differences among perceptions in sexual harassment associated with the observers’ gender, sexual orientation, race, and sexual harassment training. A number of significant interactions were observed. Implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.