A Cross-cultural Perspective on Judgments of Woman-to-woman Sexual Harassment: Does Sexual Orientation Matter?

Abstract

We investigated perceptions between Brazilian and U.S. college students regarding a hypothetical case involving woman-to-woman sexual harassment in which the sexual orientation of both the target and the alleged harasser was experimentally manipulated. Thus, there were four different scenarios, which were randomly given to 952 college students (89% of whom reported to be White). We found that the scenario that depicted heterosexual womanto-heterosexual woman sexual harassment was rated as the least likely to be sexual harassment, to need an investigation, and to be punishable than the other scenarios. Generally, Brazilians viewed the case as more likely to be sexual harassment and to need an investigation than did U.S. respondents. In the U.S., women perceived the case as more likely to be sexual harassment, to need an investigation, and to be punishable than men did; however, no such gender differences were found in Brazil. Lastly, hostile sexism and perceptions of woman-to-woman sexual harassment predicted respondents rating the case as sexual harassment and in need of an investigation.Keywords Same-sex sexual harassment . Attitudes toward women and lesbians . Gender and cultural differences Sexual harassment is a serious problem on university campuses. Hill and Silva (2005) reported findings from a recent national survey conducted by the American Association of University Women in which 62% of U.S. male and female college students reported having been sexually harassed, most often by peers (80%). The most common form of sexual harassment was unwanted comments, jokes, gestures, and looks (53%). Being called gay, lesbian, or by a homophobic name was also common (24%). In fact, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students (73%) were more likely to have been sexually harassed than were heterosexual students (61%), especially by peers (92 vs. 78%, respectively). Peer sexual harassment often took place in a residence hall or other student housing (39%).Similarly, Rankin (2003) reported findings from a national survey of LGBT faculty, staff, and students across 14 universities and departments that showed widespread stigma, violence, and discrimination: 74% of LGBT students rated their campus climate as homophobic, 51% of all LGBT respondents concealed their sexual orientation in order to avoid intimidation, and 36% of LGBT undergraduate students and 29% of all LGBT respondents reported having been victims of harassment in the past year due to their sexual orientation. Of those who had experienced harassment, 89% reported that derogatory remarks about LGBT individuals were the most common form of harassment experienced, especially by students (79%). Twenty percent of all LGBT respondents feared for their physical safety because of their sexual orientation.Peer sexual harassment on college campuses is widespread. However, it has been investigated mainly in North America. Cross-cultural research is needed in order to broaden existing theories on sex discrimination, including sexual harassment (Gruber

An exploratory study of sexual harassment in Pakistani organizations

“…This paper responds to calls for new research that explores cultural influences on SH issues (Merkin 2008;Cortina & Wasti 2005;DeSouza, Solberg & Elder 2007). Mainstream literature focuses either on behavioural or organisational context of SH Till 1980;Fitzgerald et al 1995Fitzgerald et al , 1999, and ignores the significance of socio-cultural factors that may affect the SH at workplace.…”

“…It is argued that assessments of what behaviour is adequate, appropriate, unpleasant, aggressive, right, or wrong is, in great part, a function of culture (Merkin 2008). Therefore, calls have been made for studies on SH in terms of socio-cultural contexts and influences (Merkin 2008;Cortina & Wasti 2005;DeSouza, Solberg & Elder 2007 (Toker & Sumer 2010). A study with a sample of students from a variety of cultures in the US found that Korean, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish perceived less SH than the US resident student sample (Tyler & Boxer 1996).…”

Reasons for Policewomen's Assertive and Passive Reactions to Sexual Harassment

“…Specifically, self-construal theory (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), theory of participatory decision making (Witt & Myers, 1992), and research on sexual harassment policies (Zlotnick, 1994) suggested predictors of (1) concerns about other people's reactions (psychological reactance theory) and (2) the perception of acts as severe harassment. The literature also suggested that both concerns about other people's reactions (Maypole & Skaine, 1982) and perception of acts as severe harassment (Baker, Terpstra, & Larntz, 1990;Brooks & Perot, 1991;DeSouza, Solberg, & Cerqueira, 2007) would predict passive reactions to harassment.…”

The perception of sexual harassment at university / La percepción del acoso sexual en el ámbito universitario

“…Entre ellos estarían: género, edad, raza, clase social, orientación sexual, estatus educativo o profesional, experiencias previas, locus de control, autoestima o creencias sobre sexualidad (Berdahl y Moore, 2006;DeSouza et al, 2007;Frazier et al, 1995;Gutek, 1995;Kelley y Parsons, 2000;Luthar et al, 2009;O'Leary-Kelly et al., 2009;Ohse y Stockdale, 2008;Rotundo et al., 2001), siendo el género uno de los que ha recibido más atención (Bursik y Gefter, 2011;O'Leary-Kelly et al., 2009;Rotundo et al., 2001).…”