Gender as a Boundary Condition of Models of Union Women’s Mental Health and Participation in Relation to Perceived Union Tolerance for Sexual Harassment

Abstract

Do models of union women's mental health and union participation extend to union men? To answer this question, we attempted to replicate two supported models using data from union men (N=150): The interactional effect model of union women's mental health and the conditional indirect effect model of women's union participation (Mellor and Golay in Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2014a, Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 148, 73-91, 2014b). In both models, perceived union tolerance for sexual harassment is positioned as a moderator of the predictor-outcome relationship. Retests of the models did not suggest favorable replication. As such, neither model was extended to men. Implications for sexual harassment theory and union intervention are discussed.Keywords Labor unions . Sexual harassment . Mental health . Union participation With the advent of models in organizational psychology that predict outcomes for individuals who do not share a common feature or attribute, interest in determining the boundary conditions of models has been heightened by the prospect of more focused intervention (Alderfer 2011;House et al. 1995). In this study, we examine gender as a boundary condition of two models, one found to predict union women's mental health and the other found to predict women's union participation (Mellor and Golay 2014a, b). In both models, the predictor-outcome relationship was found to vary in strength in relation to perceived union tolerance for sexual harassment, defined as members' perceptions of union tolerance for sexual harassment based on union policy and policy-driven practice (Bulger 2001). The basic question of our study is: Can the models be extended to union men? The research question is: Is gender a boundary condition, wherein the models are applicable to union women but not to union men? Data from union men are used to examine the latter question. The data include survey responses about sexual harassment, perceived union tolerance for sexual harassment, perceived union support, perceived union instrumentality, subjective negative mental health, and willingness to participate in union activities.Employ Respons Rights J