Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sexual harassment of women'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2006.
"December 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-73). Online version available on the World Wide Web. Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2006]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm.

The prevalence of sexual harassment among college women has been reported to range from 33% to 97% (Klein, Apple, & Khan, 2011; Yoon, Funk, & Kropf, 2010) across the lifespan. In any one year of college, the prevalence of sexual harassment reported by women ranges from 33% to 57% (Crown & Roberts, 2007; Huerta, Cortina, Pang, Torges, & Magley, 2006). The severity and frequency of sexual harassment has been found to be related to reports of psychological distress (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012), feelings of shame (Yoon et al., 2010), anxiety and depression symptoms (Murdoch, Pryor, Polusny, & Gackstetter, 2007), and social isolation (Pershing, 2003). These consequences of sexual harassment are concerning given the association between depression, isolation, and suicidality (Boardman, Grimbaldeston, Handley, Jones, & Willmott, 1999; DeWall, Gilman, Sharif, Carboni, & Rice, 2012). While there are numerous studies documenting the negative consequences experienced by women who are sexually harassed, little is known about the relationship of sexual harassment to the more severe negative outcomes of suicidal ideation and self-harm behaviors and what variables might facilitate this hypothesized relationship. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore whether the experience of sexual harassment is related to increased suicidality and if this hypothesized relationship is mediated or moderated by other factors such as an individual’s response style and/or degree of connection to or isolation from others.

The prevalence of sexual harassment among college women has been reported to range from 33% to 97% (Klein, Apple, & Khan, 2011; Yoon, Funk, & Kropf, 2010) across the lifespan. In any one year of college, the prevalence of sexual harassment reported by women ranges from 33% to 57% (Crown & Roberts, 2007; Huerta, Cortina, Pang, Torges, & Magley, 2006). The severity and frequency of sexual harassment has been found to be related to reports of psychological distress (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012), feelings of shame (Yoon et al., 2010), anxiety and depression symptoms (Murdoch, Pryor, Polusny, & Gackstetter, 2007), and social isolation (Pershing, 2003). These consequences of sexual harassment are concerning given the association between depression, isolation, and suicidality (Boardman, Grimbaldeston, Handley, Jones, & Willmott, 1999; DeWall, Gilman, Sharif, Carboni, & Rice, 2012). While there are numerous studies documenting the negative consequences experienced by women who are sexually harassed, little is known about the relationship of sexual harassment to the more severe negative outcomes of suicidal ideation and self-harm behaviors and what variables might facilitate this hypothesized relationship. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore whether the experience of sexual harassment is related to increased suicidality and if this hypothesized relationship is mediated or moderated by other factors such as an individual’s response style and/or degree of connection to or isolation from others.

Workplace sexual harassment costs the government and companies millions of dollars a year. Women who experience sexual harassment in the workplace suffer from negative mental and physical health problems, lower career attainment, decreased productivity, and a higher rate of job turnover. Sexual harassment is both costly and unjust, however the exact cost to women who experience sexual harassment is unknown. This thesis will measure the impact of workplace sexual harassment on wages in different industries. Using data on claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, I calculate and analyze the impact of sexual harassment on wages, age, sex, and industry. I find that industries with high rates of women reporting sexual harassment have lower wages.

Since the early 1970's, there has been an increasing awareness of the problem of sexual harassment both, in the workplace and, more recently, in academia. Although this attention has primarily focused on employer-employee and professor-student interactions, there has been one area which has been neglected in the research literature. This area is the student-student interaction or peer harassment.Therefore, the purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the prevalence of peer harassment by measuring the following areas: students' definitions of sexual harassment, attitudes toward the causes and seriousness of sexual harassment, personal experiences with regards to initiating as well as experiencing sexual harassment, response to sexual harassment, and the impact of sexual harassment on students' academic experiences as well as on their personal lives.The sample consisted of 187 undergraduate students enrolled in sociology classes at Ball State University during the spring semester of 1992. The statistical procedures that were used for this study consisted of balance indexes and crosstabulations.
Department of Sociology

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2003.
Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Psychology. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of individual differences on Sexual Harassment (SH) perceptions at the workplace. Specifically, the effects of attitudes toward women&
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s gender roles and personality attributes (i.e., self-esteem and emotional affectivity) on SH perceptions were examined. Another purpose of the study was to explore the stereotype domains of sexual harassers and to compare it with those of managers. A preliminary study was conducted by interviewing 56 Turkish working women. Based on the content analyses of the responses, a measure of social-sexual behavior manifestations relevant to the Turkish culture and a measure of harasser stereotypes were developed. In the main study, the social-sexual behavior measure was used to assess harassment perceptions and experiences of women, the stereotype measure was used to explore the nature of harasser and manager stereotypes. A total of 353 women employed in various organizations participated in the main study. Social-sexual behavior items based on sexual harassment perceptions yielded six factors (i.e., unwanted personal attention, verbal sexual attention, sexist hostility, physical sexual assault, insinuation of interest, and sexual bribery and sexual coercion). Each factor was regressed on the individual differences variables. Negative affectivity predicted perceptions of unwanted personal attention, verbal sexual attention, and sexist hostility type of behaviors. Attitudes toward women&
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s gender roles predicted physical sexual assault and sexual bribery-sexual coercion type of behaviors. Self-esteem was found to predict all sexual harassment factors, except sexist hostility. Women&
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s stereotypes towards harassers were found to be significantly different from their stereotypes towards managers, except one domain, which was dominancy. Cluster analysis suggested three different profiles of stereotypes towards harassers, and three different profiles of stereotypes towards managers. Women having stereotypes of negative or negative and powerful harassers perceived significantly more sexual harassment than those with ambivalent stereotypes towards harassers.

The aim in this study is to uncover the occupational discrimination and sexual harassment against the policewomen in Ankara, and to determine whether or not these two negative conditions can explain the stress burden of policewomen. A total number of 125 respondents have been interviewed. We divided the respondents into two groups, according to where they are employed, namely those of General Directorate of Police (EGM = The centre) and of Police Directorate of Ankara (AEM = The periphery), so that we can make a comparison between the two groups. We found that the policewomen in AEM are subjected to more stress burden and sexual harassment than those of in EGM, yet, in terms of occupational discrimination there is not a meaningful difference between the two. At a macro level, the study reveals that sexual harassment and occupational discrimination explains the occupational stress burden of the policewomen.

This thesis will look at the international political economy of violence against women. The drastic increase of the case women murder (femicide) in Mexico since 1993 has attracted worldwide attention. It will focus on the influence of international economic institutions (e.g. IMF, World Bank, TNCs) toward the increasing cases of violence against women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. This thesis will use case-study research strategy. Ciudad Juarez will be chosen as the case study because it is one of the largest border city in the Mexico and it can represent border cities in Mexico. The analysis will rely on the Galtung’s definition of violence against women and gender perspective of economic globalization. Violence against women will be consisted of wage exploitation, sexual harassment, pregnancy testing, poor safety standard, and domestic violence. The method for answering the research question is text analysis using secondary data sources. This thesis concludes that international economic institutions have significant roles in the gender-based violence in Ciudad Juárez.

The influence of gender pairing of perpetrator and victim on students' perceptions of the degree of severity and offensiveness of sexual harassment, as well as the degree of likelihood of the scenarios depicting sexual harassment occurring in an actual work setting were investigated.

Sexual harassment against women represents aggressive behaviour that is often enacted instrumentally, in response to a threatened sense of masculinity and male identity (cf. Maass & Cadinu, 2006). To date, however, empirical and theoretical attention to the social-cognitive processes that regulate workplace harassment is scant. Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986), the current thesis utilises the theoretical concept of moral disengagement in order to address this important gap in the literature. According to Bandura (1990, 1999), moral standards and self-sanctions (i.e., negative emotions of guilt or shame) can be selectively deactivated through various psychosocial mechanisms. The use of these moral disengagement strategies enables a person to violate their moral principles, and perpetrate injurious behaviour without incurring self-censure. This thesis investigates the general hypothesis that moral disengagement facilitates and perpetuates workplace sexual harassment. A new conceptual framework is presented, elucidating the self-regulatory role of moral disengagement mechanisms in sexual harassment perpetration at work. Eight empirical studies are reported in this thesis. Studies 1 to 3 present the development and preliminary validation of the Moral Disengagement in Sexual Harassment Scale (MDiSH); a self-report measure of moral disengagement in the context of hostile work environment harassment. These studies document the excellent psychometric properties of this new scale. The MDiSH exhibited positive correlations with sexual harassment myth acceptance, male gender identification, and hostile sexism. In Study 3, participants were exposed to a fictitious case of hostile work environment harassment. The MDiSH attenuated moral judgment, negative emotions (guilt, shame, and anger), sympathy, and endorsement of prosocial behavioural intentions (support for restitution) associated with the harassment case. Conversely, the MDiSH increased positive affect (happiness) about the harassment, endorsement of avoidant behavioural intentions, and attribution of blame to the female complainant. Using the amalgamated samples of Studies 1 and 2, the MDiSH was winnowed down to create a short form of the scale (MDiSH-S). The analyses reported in Chapter 3 attest to the strong psychometric properties of this measure. Study 4 explores the influence of social identification on the relationship between moral disengagement and judgments of hostile work environment harassment. U.S. participants were presented with a harassment case in which the perpetrators were described as being either in-group or out-group members. Moral disengagement (as measured using the MDiSH) neutralised judgments of the harassing behaviour. However, participants were not more inclined to justify and positively re-appraise harassment that was committed by in-group perpetrators. Study 5 reveals that moral disengagement leads people to make more favourable judgments about the perpetrators of hostile work environment harassment. The neutralising effects of moral disengagement on judgments of the harassing conduct were partially mediated by a positive evaluation of the harassers (but not social identification with them). The final three studies (Studies 6, 7, and 8) investigate the role of moral disengagement in accounting for men’s self-reported proclivity to commit quid pro quo harassment and hostile work environment harassment. These studies examine the causal pathway between moral disengagement and harassment proclivity, and the psychological mechanisms (emotions and moral judgment) that underlie this relationship. Taken together, the results suggest that moral disengagement mechanisms are important social cognitions that people use to deny, downplay, and justify workplace sexual harassment. The findings of this thesis also provide preliminary support for the notion that moral disengagement is a self-regulatory process in sexual harassment perpetration at work (cf. Page & Pina, 2015). The thesis concludes with a discussion of theoretical implications of the findings, methodological limitations, practical implications, and suggestions of future research avenues.

"The study aims to document the attitudes and beliefs of a group of rural health and welfare professionals in the Central Highlands region of Victoria, to identify if theoretical frameworks of participants for the explanation of sexual assault reflect community attitudes based on traditional mythologies and misconceptions. The study also aims to highlight where specific training about sexual assault is required, based on needs of participants, and to recommend components for a future training program."
Master of Arts

Sexual harassment has serious implications for both the individual and the organization. However, there appears to be confusion among different groups of people as to what behaviors constitute sexual harassment. The present study was designed as an aid in defining sexual harassment and an attempt to discover any differences which may exist between groups in what is considered to be sexual harassment. Perceiving certain behaviors as being sexual harassment appears to be related to several factors, among them gender, job status or power. This study consisted of a 2 (Gender) x 4 (Salary) design. The subjects for the study were 250 non-academic employees of a large state university. The investigator examined differences between groups using a four-part anonymous questionnaire.

Master of Science

Sexual objectification is perpetrated whenever someone is reduced to a thing, thus seen and treated like a sexual object. The body or body parts are separated out from the identity and used for pleasure and consumption of others (Bartky, 1990; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). According to the literature, when people become objects or instruments for others’ appreciation they can be denied their humanity, inner mental life, and moral standing (e.g., Heflick, Goldenberg, Cooper, & Puvia, 2011; Loughnan, Haslam, Murnane, Vaes, Reynolds, & Suitner, 2010; Vaes, Paladino, & Puvia, 2011). Moreover, previous objectification research suggests that experiences of sexual objectification are translated into problems that undermine psychological well-being, such as increased body shame, appearance anxiety, depression, eating and sexual disorders (Moradi & Huang, 2008). From the perspective of objectification theory, the most insidious way in which objectifying gaze infuses Western culture is through visual media (e.g., magazines, advertisements, television, music video, movies). On a daily basis, we are constantly surrounded by sexually objectified images. Examples are advertising in which male and female bodies are denuded to attract and sell products (Zotos & Tsichla, 2014) and visual media delivering sexual harassment or rape news, in which victims are often portrayed in a sexualised manner (Zanardo, 2010). Given the scarcity of specific research and the serious repercussions of sexual objectification on people’s well-being, the present work sought to expand the objectification theoretical framework by empirically testing the causal role of sexual objectification in the under-investigated areas of sexual harassment and advertising. First, in Chapter 1 we provide a brief overview of previous research grounded in the objectification theoretical framework. In Chapter 2, we present our first set of studies with the general aim to merge sexual objectification and sexual harassment research areas. Our work starts by noticing that these two areas are developed mostly independently to each other. Indeed, although extensive research has investigated the negative consequences of sexual objectification, surprisingly far less research has examined the consequences of sexual objectification in the context of sexual harassment. Specifically, we aimed to examine the effects of victims’ sexualised appearance on bystanders’ reactions to an episode of workplace sexual harassment. Our findings generally support the idea that sexualisation lead to biased perception, providing evidence that sexualised victims (i.e., wearing sexy clothes) are perceived as more immoral and blameful for being sexually harassed than non sexualised victims (i.e., wearing jeans and sweater). More important, we provide novel evidence that these biased perceptions in turn reduce bystanders’ willingness to offer support and help to the sexualised victims of sexual harassment. In addition, we show that endorsement of traditional masculine norms (i.e., ambivalent sexism toward women and non-relational attitudes toward sexuality) further enhanced biased perception of the sexualised than non-sexualised victims. In Chapter 3, we present a set of six studies that have systematically examined how both men and women react to sexually objectifying advertising. The underlying premise governing the use of sexualized images in advertisement is that “sex sells”. Indeed, although it has been shown that advertising acts as catalyst for a multitude of problematic behaviours (e.g., Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002), sex in advertising has long been used to sell just about everything. Surprisingly, even though brand attitudes and purchasing intention are the two crucial antecedents to purchasing behaviour (Shimp & Gresham, 1983), very little research has empirically investigated these antecedents to test whether sex actually works. Therefore, we investigated both female and male participants’ product attractiveness and purchasing intentions after exposure to female or male sexually objectified (versus neutral) ads. Importantly, the overall pattern of results contradicts current sexualising marketing strategies: women negatively reacted to both female and male sexually objectifying ads showing higher negative emotions, that in turn disinclined them to purchase the sexualised product; surprisingly, men were indifferent and did not show any significant increment either on product attractiveness or purchasing intention after exposure to female sexually objectifying than neutral ads. More importantly, our findings suggest that advertising may create an environment that implicitly primes viewers to appraise negatively a sexualised target. For example, sexually objectified ads primed male beliefs that women enjoy being sexualised, and also led to higher benevolent sexism compared to men exposed to neutral ads. Other results showed the effects that exposure to specific female sexualised images may have on the dehumanisation of the whole women category. Importantly, we showed that exposure to female sexually objectified ads increases women body surveillance (i.e., self-objectification) and their internalisation of beauty standards. Thus our findings support the notion that exposure to female sexually objectifying ads not only has negative consequences on how people (specifically men) view women, but also on how women view themselves (i.e., thinking that their look matters). Lastly, both men and women who endorsed traditional beliefs on gender relationships (i.e., men are sex-driven and have trouble being faithful) and men higher in hostile sexism showed higher purchasing intention after viewing sexually objectified than neutral ads. Overall, our findings extend previous research by empirically demonstrating the vicious cycle of sexual objectification. Finally, in Chapter 4 we discuss the implications of the present findings within the objectification theoretical framework and suggest future directions. Our first set of findings suggest that the appraisal of sexual harassment incidents as the result of sexualised women’s appearance, which is also associated with traditional norms on gender roles, may have serious consequences. First of all, this perception may be dangerous for the victims because it decreases significantly the actual probability of receiving support. Furthermore, the present findings are worrisome at the societal level considering the widespread manifestation of both sexualisation and sexual harassment on a daily basis, especially in the workplace (e.g., Page & Pina, 2015). Furthermore, in the second set of studies, our findings show the paradox of sexual objectification in advertising: not only it has negative outcomes for women, but it is also questionable regarding the main purpose of advertising, that is selling products. These findings should be a stimulus to reflect on alternative marketing strategies, possibly more effective and less harmful than using sexually objectifying images.
L’oggetivazione sessuale si presenta tutte le volte in cui una persona è pensata e trattata come un oggetto, strumento, merce che serve scopi specifici dell’osservatore. Le parti del corpo o le sue funzioni sessuali sono separate dal resto della persona, ridotte allo status di mero strumento utile per l’uso e il piacere sessuale altrui (Bartky, 1990; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). In accordo con la letteratura, quando le persone diventano oggetti o strumenti per il raggiungimento di fini altrui, vengono percepite come meno umane, meno competenti e meno morali (e.g., Heflick, Goldenberg, Cooper, & Puvia, 2011; Loughnan, Haslam, Murnane, Vaes, Reynolds, & Suitner, 2010; Vaes, Paladino, & Puvia, 2011). Inoltre, secondo il modello teorico dell’oggettivazione, le esperienze di oggettivazione sessuale si traducono in problemi che minano il benessere psicologico (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). In accordo, precedenti studi dimostrano come esperienze sessualmente oggettivanti siano collegate a maggiore vergogna per il proprio corpo, all’ansia legata all’apparenza e all’insorgenza di depressione, disordini alimentari e sessuali (Moradi & Huang, 2008). Dal punto di vista della teoria dell'oggettivazione, il modo più insidioso in cui lo sguardo oggettivante infonde la cultura occidentale è attraverso i mass media (e.g., riviste, pubblicità, televisione, video musicali, film). Di fatto, ogni giorno, siamo costantemente circondati da immagini sessualmente oggettivate, per esempio, nella pubblicità in cui corpi maschili e femminili sono denudati per attirare e vendere prodotti (Zotos & Tsichla, 2014) oppure nei media che riportano notizie di molestie sessuali o stupri, in cui le vittime sono spesso ritratte in modo sessualizzato (Zanardo, 2010). Pertanto, il presente lavoro si propone di ampliare il quadro teorico dell’oggettivazione, analizzando empiricamente il ruolo causale dell'oggettivazione sessuale sia nel contesto della pubblicità sia in quello delle molestie sessuali. In primo luogo, nel primo capitolo è fornita una breve rassegna delle ricerche precedenti che hanno indagato il processo di oggettivazione sessuale. Nel secondo capitolo, sono presentati due studi che avevano come obiettivo generale quello di unire empiricamente l’area di ricerca dell'oggettivazione sessuale e quella delle molestie sessuali. Il nostro lavoro è iniziato notando che le due aree si sono sviluppate per lo più in modo indipendente l’una dall’altra. Infatti, sebbene in letteratura siano presenti numerose ricerche che hanno indagato le conseguenze negative dell'oggettivazione sessuale, molto meno numerose sono le ricerche che ne hanno indagato le conseguenze nel contesto della molestia sessuale. In particolare, abbiamo esaminato come l’aspetto sessualizzato della vittima possa influenzare le reazioni di potenziali testimoni a episodi di molestie sessuali in ambito lavorativo. I due studi hanno fornito forti evidenze a sostegno dell'idea che la sessualizzazione causa percezioni distorte, mostrando che la vittima sessualizzata (i.e., fotografata con abiti succinti) è percepita come più immorale e colpevole per essere stata sessualmente molestata rispetto alla vittima non sessualizzata (i.e., fotografata con jeans e maglione). Inoltre, i risultati hanno dimostrato, per la prima volta, che queste percezioni distorte riducono a loro volta la disponibilità dei testimoni a offrire il proprio aiuto e sostegno alla vittima sessualizzata (rispetto alla vittima non-sessualizzata). Successivamente, abbiamo dimostrato che l'approvazione di norme tradizionali maschili (i.e., sessismo ambivalente nei confronti delle donne e atteggiamenti non relazionali verso la sessualità) ha ulteriormente rafforzato la percezione distorta della vittima sessualizzata rispetto a quella non sessualizzata. Nel terzo capitolo, è presentata una serie di sei studi che hanno sistematicamente esaminato come uomini e donne reagiscono alla pubblicità sessualmente oggettivata. La premessa sottostante all'uso di immagini sessualizzate in pubblicità è che "il sesso vende". Infatti, benché sia stato dimostrato che la pubblicità sessualizzata agisce come catalizzatore di una moltitudine di comportamenti problematici (e.g., Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002), il sesso è da tempo utilizzato nella pubblicità per vendere qualsiasi tipo di prodotto. Nonostante sia stato dimostrato che gli atteggiamenti verso il prodotto e l'intenzione di acquisto siano i due antecedenti cruciali del comportamento d’acquisto (Shimp & Gresham, 1983), un numero sorprendentemente esiguo di ricerche li ha analizzati empiricamente per testare se il sesso effettivamente vende. Pertanto, nei nostri studi, abbiamo esaminato sia l'attrattiva del prodotto sia l'intenzione di acquisto manifestate dai partecipanti (uomini e donne) dopo l'esposizione a pubblicità sessualmente oggettivate (sia maschili sia femminili) oppure neutre. Nel complesso, è interessante notare che i risultati ottenuti contraddicono le attuali strategie di marketing focalizzate sulla sessualizzazione. Infatti, le donne hanno reagito negativamente alle pubblicità sessualmente oggettivanti (indipendentemente dal genere del target), mostrando maggiori emozioni negative che, a loro volta, hanno diminuito le loro intenzioni di acquisto rispetto alle pubblicità neutre. Inaspettatamente, gli uomini si sono mostrati indifferenti, vale a dire che dopo l'esposizione a pubblicità femminili sessualmente oggettivate (anziché neutre) non hanno manifestato alcun incremento significativo né sull'attrazione verso il prodotto né sull'intenzione di acquisto. Ancora più importante, abbiamo mostrato risultati che suggeriscono che la pubblicità può creare un ambiente che induce implicitamente alla categorizzazione negativa di un target sessualizzato. I risultati dimostrano che l’esposizione a pubblicità femminili sessualmente oggettivate (anziché neutre) ha innescato negli uomini la credenza che alle donne piaccia essere sessualizzate. Inoltre, gli uomini esposti a pubblicità femminili sessualmente oggettivanti hanno mostrato livelli più alti di sessismo benevolo rispetto agli uomini esposti a pubblicità neutre. Altri dati hanno mostrato gli effetti che l’esposizione a specifiche immagini femminili sessualizzate può avere sulla deumanizzazione dell’intera categoria delle donne. Inoltre, mostriamo evidenze a sostegno dell’idea che l'esposizione a pubblicità femminili sessualmente oggettivanti non solo ha conseguenze negative su come le persone (in particolare gli uomini) percepiscono le donne, ma anche su come le donne percepiscono se stesse (i.e., pensando che l’aspetto fisico le rappresenti come persone). I risultati mostrano come l'esposizione a pubblicità femminili sessualmente oggettivate (anziché neutre) abbia portato le donne a monitorare maggiormente il proprio corpo (i.e., auto-oggettivazione) e ad interiorizzare maggiormente i canoni di bellezza socio-culturali. Infine, gli uomini con livelli più alti di sessismo ostile e gli uomini e le donne che hanno maggiormente interiorizzato credenze tradizionali sulle relazioni di genere (i.e., gli uomini sono guidati dal sesso e hanno difficoltà a essere fedeli) hanno mostrato maggiore intenzione d'acquisto nella condizione di oggettivazione sessuale rispetto alla neutra. Più in generale, i nostri risultati estendono i risultati delle ricerche precedenti dimostrando empiricamente il circolo vizioso dell’oggettivazione sessuale. Infine, nel quarto capitolo, discuteremo le implicazioni dei risultati ottenuti e le direzioni di ricerca future all'interno del quadro teorico dell'oggettivazione. I risultati dei nostri primi studi suggeriscono che la valutazione di episodi di molestia sessuale sulla base dell’aspetto sessualizzato delle vittime può avere gravi conseguenze. Conseguenze che sono state corroborate dal risultato sull’ulteriore aumento dell’interiorizzazione di norme tradizionali sui ruoli di genere. In primo luogo, le percezioni distorte causate dalla sessualizzazione possono essere pericolose per le vittime, diminuendo significativamente la probabilità reale di ricevere sostegno. In secondo luogo, i risultati sono preoccupanti a livello sociale, considerando la diffusa e quotidiana manifestazione sia della sessualizzazione che delle molestie sessuali, soprattutto in ambito lavorativo (e.g., Page & Pina, 2015). Inoltre, nella seconda serie di studi, i risultati mostrano il paradosso dell’oggettivazione sessuale in pubblicità: non solo ha conseguenze negative sulle donne, ma anche su quello che dovrebbe essere il suo fine ultimo, vale a dire vendere prodotti. I nostri risultati dovrebbero essere uno stimolo per riflettere su strategie di marketing alternative, forse più efficaci sul piano economico e sicuramente meno nocive sulle donne, rispetto all'utilizzo di immagini sessualizzate.

This study examines the problem of operationally defining "hostile environment" sexual harassment, ruled a type of disparate treatment actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by the United States Supreme Court on June 19, 1986. Although the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines a hostile environment as an "intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment," there is no consensus as to what is "offensive" behavior. An extensive review of the literature yielded various attempts to define and ascertain the magnitude of sexual harassment, but the fact that the actual percentages varied indicates that this is a difficult issue to measure. As perception by the victim is the key, this study surveyed 125 working women from all over the United States to determine their perceptions of behaviors that constitute sexual harassment. Discriminant analysis was then used to correctly classify 95% of the women according to their perceptions of having experienced sexual harassment. Using tests for proportions, three hypotheses were found significant. Women who have been sexually harassed are more likely to view sexual harassment as a major problem. Older men are more likely to have their behavior perceived as sexual harassment. In addition, women who have experienced acts such as staring, flirting, or touching in the workplace are more likely to perceive those acts as sexual harassment. The hypotheses deemed not statistically significant yielded interesting results. Younger women are not more likely to be harassed than older women. Neither are single or divorced women more likely to experience sexual harassment. All women, regardless of age, marital status, or geographic location, are vulnerable to sexual harassment. Of importance are which variables contributed the most to the women's perceptions of sexual harassment. None of the demographic variables was found significant, but the women perceived that they had been sexually harassed if sexual remarks, touching, sexual propositions, or staring were directed toward them in the workplace. Thus, these acts were perceived as constituting a hostile environment.

Evolutionary psychological principles were applied to the issue of sexual harassment to investigate whether the gender, power, and mate value of harassers were related to perceptions of sexual harassment. One hundred and sixty heterosexual men and women were given descriptions of a target individual whose mate value and power was manipulated, and three behavioural vignettes involving imagined interactions with the target individual. Participants rated their perceived level of sexual harassment (the dependent variable) stemming from the imagined interactions. Participants also provided ratings of their self perceived level of attractiveness, attitude towards social-sexual communication in the workplace, and experience with social-sexual communication in the workplace. As predicted, females perceived higher levels of sexual harassment than males, and participants perceived higher levels of sexual harassment from low mate-value target individuals than high mate-value target individuals. Against predictions, no result was found for power. Additionally, self perceived level of attractiveness was found to moderate the relationship between gender and perceived sexual harassment, and attitude towards social-sexual communication in the workplace was found to moderate the relationship between mate value and perceived sexual harassment. Implications and explanations are discussed with reference to workplace issues, and evolutionary psychology.

Sexual harassment in Cairo's public spaces is a symptom of infringement upon women’s rights in Egypt. Which is ingrained in the socioeconomic context, cultural, and traditional norms of the society. This grant proposal and background research proposes the construction of an extensive anti-sexual harassment infrastructure base in Egypt. The infrastructure platform is built on an evidence-based strategy and guided by recognized best practices. The platform is geared towards alleviating the symptoms of sexual harassment in Cairo's public spaces by constructing the urgently required, but currently missing, national mechanisms which are necessary to prevent, report, prosecute, and provide survivor services for victims of sexual harassment. In addition to the immediate perceived causes and effects of sexual harassment in Egypt there is also deep-rooted ecological factors that must be considered. These ecological factors, on an individual level, both biological and personal, include the fact that approximately 97% of Egyptian girls witness female gentile mutilation (FGM) in a publicized fashion between the ages 4 & 10. The practice of FGM, may have indoctrinated little boys and little girls, from an early age, that it is socially acceptable to inflict physical and psychological pain and suffering upon the female. FGM carried out at this age, as opposed to male circumcision, which is carried out during early infancy, allows for the neurological trauma that is generated leaves a lasting imprint. On a family level, 49% of adolescent rural girls marry before the age of 16. Marriage at this age is internationally recognized as sexual abuse, yet is common practice in rural Egypt. This practice sets a negative precedence for accommodating women's voices, this precedence may last a lifetime. On a community level, based on the most recent statistically significant surveys, approximately 70% of youth, both male and female, believe women are subordinate to men. This dictates that male must exercise control of resources and decision-making. And, that a girl must do what her brother says, even if he is younger. On a society level, 86% of surveyed male respondents indicated they would do “nothing” to try and stop sexual harassment if they witnessed it happening to a stranger in public. And finally, even from the moment they are born, the large majority of women in Egypt, because of religious dictates, inherit only half of what a male sibling would. Ceteris paribus, women in Egypt, just by virtue of being female, based on inheritance, are only able to afford a living standard, for themselves and their family that is only half as high as that of their male siblings living standard, unless of course their male sibling is benevolent enough to bestow upon them his own wealth. All these factors invariable, where they apply, undermine women's status in society and negatively impact attitudes of protecting women from harm and violence, in all its forms, which includes sexual harassment in public spaces.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 1999.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 114 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-114).

The ambiguous nature of social interactions between coeds may lead to under reporting of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has been studied using mostly cross-sectional methods for over 30 years. However, despite decades of research, prevalence rates of sexual harassment have been found to vary considerably across and within studies. This inconsistency in findings makes drawing conclusions about the prevalence of sexual harassment challenging. Thus, the focus of the field should shift to identifying what behaviors are perceived to be sexual harassment and how that perception may vary by context. To reduce the ambiguity surrounding the labeling of an interaction as sexual harassment, experiments are needed to isolate unique facets of an interaction. Developing a greater understanding of what occurs when someone is sexually harassed is warranted given that the occurrence of sexual harassment has numerous negative consequences for everyone involved. Cognitive appraisals and changes in negative emotional affect were examined in undergraduate women. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control (non-sexual harassment interaction) or experimental (sexual harassment) condition that utilized validated video stimuli developed by the researcher. Context was also manipulated as both behavioral interactions took place in a classroom setting and a party setting. Learning the internal processes that occur during the event-moment of sexual harassment can lead to the development and dissemination of guidelines for college students regarding what constitutes sexual harassment within and across contexts. Results from this line of research can inform prevention programming for college students.

This thesis focuses on the work of a social movement based in Cairo that dedicated itself to the addressing and reducing sexual harassment, or taḥarush in the streets. Based on a year and five months of fieldwork, this thesis elaborated upon the genesis of the movement, its ethos, and the methods it deployed to tackle taḥarush. It is argued that the movement deployed methods which encouraged members of Egyptian society to revisit and rework their ethical standpoints with reference to taḥarush, and as such public behaviour. In this way, members of Egyptian society were asked to become more aware of their roles within society itself. Firstly, such methods had to be tested by movement members themselves. The movement became known for two main activities: raising awareness and patrols. Both methods serve as ways by which the movement reshaped both people and the public spaces they occupied. Spaces are defined by the people who pass through them, and by acting on a given space, people can change how it is perceived. The movement designated itself a safe space, encouraging members to ponder ideas from society with the goal of changing society ‘for the better'. What my research revealed was that lack of consensus regarding definitions embedded in movement ethos contributed to conflict between members and discontinuity between ethos and its enactment. Government pressures required changes to the structure and internal functioning of the movement, and in addition to the initial ethical project regarding taḥarush, members found themselves learning to embody and perform roles associated with employed positions. The turmoil experienced both within in and outside of the movement is put back into the context of Egypt post 2011, to tease out the sense of temporality embedded in their struggle to survive the political climate of the time.

The present research examined the influence of military status, organizational climate type, gender, and attitudes toward sexual harassment on juror decisions in a sexual harassment trial. Military participants rated themselves as having more stereotypical masculine characteristics and they rated sexual harassment allegations more seriously. The permissive climate type elicited less serious allegation ratings. Females rated all climates as more permissive, found the defendant more liable, and chose more severe punishments. Tolerant attitudes toward sexual harassment predicted juror decisions for both ROTC and civilian mock jurors. The results highlight the need for further education about sexual harassment to reduce tolerant attitudes and permissive organizational climates, and to increase fairness in harassment trials.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006.
Title from file title page. Emanuela Guano, committee chair; Layli Phillips, Juliana Kubala, Wendy Simonds, committee members. Electronic text (116 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Dec. 13, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-116).

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Bachelors
Sciences
Political Science

Research demonstrates that sexual harassment, sexual assault, and eating disorders are pervasive gender-based social problems on college campuses. These phenomena can cause long- term psychological consequences, and negatively impact women’s ability to succeed in both academia and the workplace. Not only have the prevalence and effects of these issues been documented, a significant number of studies have found a relationship between various forms of victimization and eating disorders/symptoms. Research has shown that eating disorders may function as coping strategies for managing the psychological distress that often results from the trauma of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Although, this link has been identified, little research has examined why it might exist among various populations. The purpose of this study was to not only examine the relationships among sexual harassment, rape, and eating disorders, but also the cognitive and psychological processes that may influence this association. The cognitive processes included gender-role attitudes and rape myth acceptance and the psychological processes were depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress. In addition, the study aimed to explore these phenomena among the traditional female dominated fields of teaching and nursing. Little is known about how these populations are effected by sexual harassment, sexual assault, and eating disorders. Analyses were conducted on self-report measures from 206 students enrolled in an undergraduate nursing and pre-service teaching program at the University of Kentucky. The test of a theoretical model, using a series of multiple regressions, suggests a positive relationship among sexual harassment, rape and eating disturbances for nursing and pre- service teaching college women students. Also, the findings indicated that this relationship is partially mediated by psychological distress. No moderation was found between rape myth acceptance and gender-role attitudes and psychological distress. These results indicate that effective training and prevention programs that address sexual harassment and sexual assault are needed as well as clinical strategies for the assessment and treatment of eating disorders and trauma.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia Southern University, 2006.
"A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts" ETD. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Tertiary institutions worldwide as well as locally have investigated sexual harassment on their campuses. This was done partly because of the negative consequences of sexual harassment on students and staff, particularly their work performance. Incidents of sexual harassment reported at universities range from rape and sexual assault to threats and sexist remarks by lecturers. When researching this phenomenon, difficulty is normally encountered partly due to the uncertainty that surrounds this activity. This is because perceptions differ as to what kind of conduct constitutes sexual harassment. Research further indicates that there are gender and racial differences in the assessment of sexual harassment. The current study investigates the uncertainty, gender and racial differences that exist regarding sexual harassment at a specific university campus. By means of a survey the perceptions of students regarding these three issues were determined at the Faculty of Military Science, a satellite campus of the University of Stellenbosch. With the utilisation of statistlcal packages, frequencies and statistical differences amongst the various sub-groups at the campus were determined. This was done in order to compare these findings with those of other universities who conducted similar sexual harassment surveys on their campuses in South Africa. It was found that no clear idea of what constitutes sexual harassment exist amongst these students. In particular women in the survey consistently viewed more incidents as contributing to sexual harassment than men. As oppose to other findings, Blacks registered a more conservative attitude when assessing whether certain incidents can be viewed as sexual harassment. The above was found notwithstanding the differing social context, especially the socialisation process and the fairly rigid codes of conduct, that students at the Military Academy are exposed to.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verskeie tersiêre instellings, wêreldwyd sowel as plaaslik, het seksuele teistering op hul kampusse ondersoek. Dit was deels gedoen as gevolg van die negatiewe gevolge wat hierdie aktiwiteit op studente en personeellede het, veralop hul werksprestasie. Gerapporteerde insidente by universiteite wissel vanaf verkragting en seksuele aanvalle tot dreigemente en seksistiese opmerkings deur dosente. Probleme is ondervind tydens navorsing oor die verskynsel wat deels toegeskryf kan word aan die onsekerheid wat hierdie aktiwiteit omhul. Dit hou verband met persepsies wat verskil ten opsigte van die soort gedrag wat seksuele teistering teenwoordig. Navorsing wys verder daarop dat geslags- en rasverskille bestaan by die assesering van seksuele teistering. Die huidige studie ondersoek die onsekerheid, geslags- en rasverskille ten opsigte van seksuele teistering by 'n spesifieke universiteitskampus. Deur middel van 'n opname word die persepsies van studente rakende die drie kwessies bepaal by die Fakulteit Krygskunde, 'n satelietkampus van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch. Met behulp van statistiese pakkette, word frekwensies en statistiese verskille tussen die verskillende subgroepe op die kampus bepaal. Dit was gedoen ten einde in staat te wees om die bevindinge te vergelyk met die van ander Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite wat seksuele teistering opnames op hul kampusse gedoen het. Daar word bevind dat geen duidelike idee van wat seksuele teistering behels bestaan onder die studente nie. In besonder word bevind dat vroue in die opname deurlopend meer insidente aanslaan as seksuele teistering, as mans. In teenstelling met ander bevindinge, registreer swart persone 'n meer konserwatiewe houding wanneer bepaal word of sekere insidente seksueel teisterend van aard is, al dan nie. Bogenoemde was bevind desondanks die eiesoortige sosiale konteks waarin studente hulself bevind, veral die sosialiseringsproses en die redelike streng gedragskodes, waaraan studente van die Militêre Akademie onderwerp word.

The South African mining industry has been a male dominated environment for a very long time. With changes in government policy and legislation, discriminatory laws forbidding women to work underground have been repealed and the mining industry have since been trying to accommodate women. Unfortunately there is an imbalance to this general trend of increase shown by the consistently low numbers of female employees within the mining industry. It was far-fetched for management to perceive that women can ever play a role in the underground mining industry. Unfortunately the perceptions of management is having an enormous impact on the attitudes of the rest of the employees in this industry. This leads to discrimination in the mining industry that will make it difficult for the women seeking financial stability. The whole mining industry should learn to adapt to this idea of women in mining. Employing women in the mine is a challenge of the mindset of viewing mining as a men's world. The objective of this research was to determine the experience of women in the platinum mining industry in South Africa as well as the impact that women entering the mining industry could have on the mines in terms of the working conditions, harassment, physiological aspects, ergonomics, physical strength, discrimination etc. The research method for this article consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. A qualitative design has been used on an availability sample (N = 14) females in the platinum mining industry. The qualitative research makes it possible to determine the subjective experience of women working in the platinum mining industry. The literature focused on previous research on the experience of women entering the mining industry as an employee. vii The outcome of this research was that the male worker attitude and discrimination have an enormous impact on women that are entering the mining industry. One of the more difficult hurdles to overcome is the harassment that women need to deal with The women are also facing a huge challenge in terms of their physical strength not being adequate in order to perform up to a minimum of eight hours per day in the harsh working conditions including the ergonomics of the mining industry. Most of the women are entering the mining industry for financial reasons in order to survive in the South f i c a n Economic environment of today. After a hard day performing these physical activities they need to face their responsibilities at home in order to manage a work-home life balance. Management need to start seeking solutions to make the mining industry a more women free environment for example focussing on facilities for women. The fact that women were appointed into the mining environment covering traditionally male sectors, also speaks to a commitment to changing the face of the mining industry. Recommendations for future research were made.
Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Street harassment, the sexual harassment by strangers in public places, is a common experience shared by many women and has been linked with other forms of sexual victimization. The negative impact of street harassment, such as fear and behavior to avoid being harassed, points to the need for preventing the behavior. This study sought to determine whether the documentary-style film War Zone may be effective in impacting men’s attitudes toward street harassment, and whether the effectiveness of the film would depend on men’s hostility toward women and level of peer acceptance for street harassment. Findings do not support the effectiveness of War Zone as a component of street harassment prevention. However, the data does suggest that endorsement of hostile attitudes toward women predicts a lack of empathy, and that endorsement of hostile attitudes toward women, a lack of empathy, and peer acceptance of street harassment predict acceptance of street harassment.

This research project is based on ethnographic observations of andinterviews with a sample of nineteen young women about their experiences of sexual harassment in everyday life. The fieldwork was carried out in a school. The aims of the project were to explore young women's perceptions and negotiations of sexual harassment as much as to document the variety of forms it took and to explore the role of schools in the institutionalization of sexual harassment. The methods employed and the methodological perspective adopted were both ethnographic and feminist, underpinned by a realist philosophy and a standpoint epistemology. I highlight the need to address questions about how methodology, epistemology and substantive data are indissolubly interconnected. Thus, the traditional 'scientific' principles of objective impartiality and unemotionality are explicitly challenged by the demand that we reflect critically on -our own inevitably emotional knowledge of the world which we investigate. The appeal to reflexivity rather than to reason or rationality (supposedly unfettered by emotionality) profoundly challenges our understanding of what 'science' means and, therefore, what knowledge is. A definition of sexual harassment is offered. I argue that the phenomenon is a situated, mundane and masculine power practice which reconstructs or reproduces patriarchal social relations. It is patriarchy operationalized. Since the young women with whom I worked collaborated in defining what the research was about by relating their experiences of heterosex, the thesis also explores some of the oppressive continuities between these more intimate encounters and sexual harassment in everyday life. Given that sites of oppression are also potentially at least sites of resistance, the thesis critically examines the ideological context which structures human agency and explores the extent to which young women are empowered to resist rather than accommodate themselves to the oppressive exercise of masculine power. I argue that the school effectively reproduces the oppressive reality in which the young women live their everyday lives.

Although feminists resist accounts that define women as having certain features that are essential to their being women, feminists are also guilty of giving essentialist definitions. Because women are extremely diverse in their experiences, the essentialist critics question whether a universal (non-essentialist) account of women can be given. I argue that it is possible to formulate a valuable category of woman, despite potential essentialist challenges. Even with diversity among women, women are oppressed as women by patriarchal structures such as rape, pornography, and sexual harassment that regulate women’s sexuality and construct women as beings whose main role is to service men’s sexual needs.