Upsetting Behavior: Reactions to Personal and Bystander Sexual Harassment Experiences

Abstract

The current research was designed to examine objective and contextual factors related to the appraisal of potentially sexually harassing situations. Working female participants (n = 208) from a mid-sized southwestern university completed a workplace experiences survey in small groups. The majority of participants were Hispanic/ Latina (77.9%). We predicted that characteristics of personal harassment experiences (e.g., number of distinct types of behaviors experienced, frequency, duration) and bystander harassment experiences would contribute independently to how upset women were by their own sexual harassment experiences. Results indicated that characteristics of personal harassment experiences and bystander experiences did predict how upset women were by their own gender harassment and by unwanted sexual attention experiences. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of considering multiple types of workplace stressors (e.g., personal and bystander sexual harassment experiences) and their relation to the appraisal process.

Bystander Sexism in the Intergroup Context: The Impact of Cat-calls on Women’s Reactions Towards Men

“…From this perspective, sexist instances do not occur in a social vacuum wherein a single perpetrator and target interact. As numerous researchers have already demonstrated, sexual harassment in a work environment can negatively affect women as direct targets and bystanders (e.g., Fitzgerald 1993;Hitlan et al 2006), can compromise the organizational climate, and can, ultimately, be financially costly to organizations (for a review, see Terpstra and Baker 1986). Thus, our study adds to the growing literature illustrating that individual incidences of sexism can have wide-ranging and deleterious consequences.…”

“…These researchers have examined the impact of bystander sexual harassment-"experiences where one observes or knows about the sexual harassment of others but is not directly the target of the harassment." In their sample of U.S. female employed undergraduate students, 69% of participants reported being a bystander to sexual harassment and these researchers find that the experience of bystander sexual harassment exacerbated the negative emotional responses women had in their own personal experiences with sexual harassment (Hitlan et al 2006).…”

“…Bystander sexism is an instance of sexism wherein a woman is not directly involved in the immediate social context of the sexist event targeted at another woman, but is exposed to the event nonetheless. To our knowledge, the only work that has directly examined the impact of bystander sexism (or a related construct) on women's well-being is that of Hitlan and colleagues (Hitlan et al 2006;Walsh and Hitlan 2007). These researchers have examined the impact of bystander sexual harassment-"experiences where one observes or knows about the sexual harassment of others but is not directly the target of the harassment."…”

A Model of Racialized Sexual Harassment of Women in the UK Workplace

“…Furthermore, employees who witness sexual harassment can also experience personal negative effects. Many concluded that the organization does not care about the welfare and this may ultimately lead to negative assumptions regarding organizational norms and behaviors, specifically relating to fairness and justice (Hitlan et al 2006;Lamertz 2002).…”

Observers’ Reporting of Sexual Harassment: The Influence of Harassment Type, Organizational Culture, and Political Orientation

“…Sexual harassment observers, relative to direct victims, are emotionally and physically detached from the harassment and are therefore likely to circumvent the negative outcomes associated with reporting harassment (Bergman et al 2002). Further, according to one study, nearly 70% of working women have observed sexual harassment in the workplace (Hitlan et al 2006)-thus, knowledge of the harassment is present. Based on these dynamics, Bowes-Sperry and O' LearyKelly (2005) considered observers of sexual harassment key in ending that form of discrimination in the workplace.…”