SOCIAL-SCIENCE RESEARCH ON LAY DEFINITIONS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

This article critically reviews social science research relevant to la y people defining sexual harassment, including research on what behavi ors are considered harassing, the effects of harasser status on percep tions of harassment, and gender differences in definitions of sexual h arassment. Included in this review are data from a previously unpublis hed study of definitions of sexual harassment among a sample of over 4 000 students, faculty and staff at the University of Minnesota. Our re view suggests that there is now quite a bit of lay consensus regarding which categories of behaviors are generally considered harassing. Stu dies on both the effects of harasser status and gender differences in perceptions of harassing behaviors are less consistent. We conclude ou r review with several recommendations for increasing the external vali dity of this research.