The Moderating Roles of Race and Gender-Role Attitudes in the Relationship Between Sexual Harassment and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Although previous research has linked sexual harassment to negative psychological outcomes, few studies have focused on moderators of these relationships. The present study surveyed Black (n= 88) and White (n= 170) female undergraduates who endorsed experiences of sexual harassment to examine whether traditional gender attitudes differentially moderated the relationship between sexual harassment and three outcomes: posttraumatic stress symptoms, general clinical symptoms, and satisfaction with life. We replicated past findings that sexual harassment is related to negative outcomes. Further, the results supported our hypothesis that less traditional gender attitudes (i.e., more feminist attitudes) would buffer the negative effects of sexual harassment for White women, whereas the same attitudes would exacerbate its negative effects for Black women. We discuss reasons for these differences, including Black women's double consciousness and differences in the meaning of feminist and traditional gender attitudes for Black and White women.

Comparing Sexual Harassment Subtypes Among Black and White Women by Military Rank: Double Jeopardy, the Jezebel, and the Cult of True Womanhood

“…Although race predicted psychological distress, results indicated that White women reported more psychological distress than Black women, counter to our prediction that Black women's increased vulnerability would exacerbate their distress once harassed. A similar pattern was reported among Black and White sexually harassed college students (Rederstorff, Buchanan, & Settles, 2007). These results may be related to cultural differences in the manifestation of psychological distress (Zhang & Snowden, 1999); specifically, past studies have found that White women more readily endorse symptoms of depression, whereas Black women are more likely to report symptoms of somatization (Franko et al, 2005).…”

Testing a Model of Women's Personal Sense of Justice, Control, Well-Being, and Distress in the Context of Sexist Discrimination

“…Whereas much evidence exists to support a discrimination–distress link, less is known about the relationship between discrimination and psychological well‐being. Some evidence suggests negative associations, such as those observed in samples of African American and European American women (Rederstorff, Buchanan, & Settles, 2007; Ryff, Keyes, & Hughes, 2003), Asian Americans (Lee, 2003), and African American adolescents (Sellers, Copeland‐Linder, Martin, & Lewis, 2006). Therefore, we thought it important to explore potential mediating processes in sexist events’ association with distress as related to, but distinct from, mediating processes in their relationship with psychological well‐being.…”

“…For women who are members of multiple marginalized groups, it may be difficult—or impossible—to tease out the origins of discriminatory events as reflecting primarily sexism, other prejudices, or interactions among multiple prejudices. These experiences could result in lower levels of PBJW and PC among Women of Color as compared to European American women, and some data suggest that sexist discrimination is experienced differently by these two broad groups (Rederstorff et al, 2007). For these reasons, we also examined our data for possible differences by self‐reported ethnic identity by comparing data from Women of Color and European American women in three ways: by testing for differences in mean responses, by testing for differences in intercorrelations among variables, and by including ethnic identity status in the sequential path model.…”

Through the Lens of Race: Black and White Women's Perceptions of Womanhood

“…For example, although both Black and White women may experience sexual harassment, Black women are more likely to experience sexual harassment that has a racial component (racialized sexual harassment; Buchanan, 2005; Buchanan & Ormerod, 2002). Another example of intersectionality is the finding that feminist attitudes buffered psychological outcomes for sexually harassed White women, but exacerbated psychological outcomes for sexually harassed Black women (Rederstorff et al, 2007). Thus, we regard gender and race as often internalized group memberships (i.e., identities) that intersect in many ways; one way is that women's racial group membership creates a unique lens that informs how their gender is viewed.…”