EFFECTS OF GENDER AND SITUATION ON THE PERCEPTION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

This study addressed three soul ces of variability in the perception o f sexual harassment: the gender of the observer the gender combination of the harasser and victim, and the role relationship between the har asser and victim. College students (N = 197), approximately 80% of who m were Caucasian, single, and in their early 20s, were randomly divide d into two groups. In one group, the harasser was a man and the victim was a woman. In the other group, the harasser was a woman and the vic tim was a man. Participants rated the degree to which they thought sex ual harassment occurred in 20 hypothetical interactions in each of thr ee situations using a 7-point sexual harassment scale. Men and women r ated the situations alike as long as the harasser was a man and the vi ctim was a woman. When the perpetrator was a woman and rite victim was a man, men gave significantly lower ratings than women. In contrast, women's ratings were the same regardless of the gender of the harasser Harassment ratings also varied as a function of the power differentia l between the harasser and victim. The more egalitarian the relationsh ip, the less likely participants were to perceive the behavior as sexu ally harassing.