Keenan Charlotte, von Hippel Courtney, Neall Annabelle, Barlow Fiona Kate
The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
J Interpers Violence. 2025 Jul;40(13-14):3132-3161. doi: 10.1177/08862605241271368. Epub 2024 Aug 19.
Despite increasing awareness, sexual harassment remains a significant concern in the workplace. The enduring problem of sexual harassment seems to persist due to a lack of clarity regarding what behaviors qualify as harassment. Furthermore, the interpretation of these behaviors is influenced by contextual and relational factors, contributing to the complexity of addressing and preventing such incidents. This study builds on existing research by investigating how the severity of sexually harassing behavior, the response from the target, and the gender of the participant contribute to labeling behavior as sexual harassment. Using an online experimental scenario-based survey, 1,700 (850 female, 850 male) currently employed participants were presented with a single workplace scenario that manipulated the severity of the sexual harassment behavior and the target's response. Participants were then asked to assess the appropriateness of the behavior, label it as sexual harassment or not, and rate their confidence in their labeling decision. The results revealed that less severe sexual harassment behaviors, targets who displayed interest, and male participants were more likely to perceive the behavior as less inappropriate and were less inclined to label it as sexual harassment. These findings have implications for shaping the definition of sexual harassment and designing training programs for heightened awareness.
尽管人们的认识不断提高，但性骚扰仍是职场中的一个重大问题。由于对于哪些行为属于骚扰缺乏明确界定，性骚扰这一长期存在的问题似乎持续存在。此外，这些行为的解释受到背景和关系因素的影响，使得处理和预防此类事件变得复杂。本研究在现有研究的基础上，调查性骚扰行为的严重程度、受害者的反应以及参与者的性别如何影响将行为界定为性骚扰。通过一项基于在线实验场景的调查，向1700名（850名女性、850名男性）在职参与者展示了一个单一的职场场景，该场景操纵了性骚扰行为的严重程度和受害者的反应。然后要求参与者评估该行为的适当性，将其标记为是否属于性骚扰，并对其标记决定的信心进行评分。结果显示，不太严重的性骚扰行为、表现出兴趣的受害者以及男性参与者更有可能认为该行为不太不当，并且不太倾向于将其标记为性骚扰。这些发现对于塑造性骚扰的定义以及设计提高认识的培训项目具有启示意义。
