THE IMPACT OF JOB-PERFORMANCE, GENDER, AND ETHNICITY ON THE MANAGERIAL REVIEW OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS

This study examines the managerial review of sexual harassment allegat ions by subordinates against supervisors as a 2-stage attribution proc ess. In the ist stage, reviewers decide whether the behavior was inapp ropriate (misconduct). In the 2nd, reviewers decide the level of compa ny responsibility. The reviewers' 2 decisions are influenced in distin ct ways by scenario participant job performance, and the genders and e thnicities of reviewer and scenario participants. Male respondents exh ibited some bias for high-performing same-ethnicity supervisors-a bias not present in female responses. In the 2nd stage, female and non-Whi te reviewers assessed significantly higher levels of company responsib ility than did male and White respondents. The data suggest that altho ugh men and women do not differ substantially over what constitutes mi sconduct, they do differ over the company's responsibility.