This article aims to contribute to understanding of the factors influencing workplace sexual violence. This research draws on the literature of gendered organizations and borrows from Job Demands–Resources theory to explore the effects of corporate restructuring on the likelihood of unwanted sexual attention at work. Drawing on data gathered for the 2010 and 2015 European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), the study examines the correlation between corporate restructuring, working conditions, and workplace unwanted sexual attention in the European labor force (N = 73,717). The findings suggest that work intensity, physical strain, and job control have a partial mediating effect on the relationship between corporate restructuring and unwanted sexual attention. It also shows that women experience worse working conditions in terms of job demands following a restructuring event. This study sheds lights on the repercussions of corporate restructuring and recommends approaches at the organization level to combat the epidemic of sexual harassment.
AckerJ (1990) Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society4(2): 139–158.
2.
AckerJ (2006) Inequality regimes: Gender, class, and race in organizations. Gender & Society20(4): 441–464.
3.
Ariza-MontesALeal-RodríguezALLeal-MillánAG (2016) Workplace bullying among teachers: An analysis from the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model perspective. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine58(8): 818–827.
4.
Astorne-FigariCSpeerJD (2019) Are changes of major major changes? The roles of grades, gender, and preferences in college major switching. Economics of Education Review70: 75–93.
5.
AstrauskaiteMKernRMNotelaersG (2014) An individual psychology approach to underlying factors of workplace bullying. The Journal of Individual Psychology70(3): 220–244.
6.
AvgoustakiA (2016) Work uncertainty and extensive work effort: The mediating role of human resource practices. ILR Review69(3): 656–682.
7.
BaillienEDe WitteH (2009) Why is organizational change related to workplace bullying? Role conflict and job insecurity as mediators. Economic and Industrial Democracy30(3): 348–371.
8.
BaillienEDe CuyperNDe WitteH (2011a) Job autonomy and workload as antecedents of workplace bullying: A two-wave test of Karasek’s Job Demand Control Model for targets and perpetrators. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology84(1): 191–208.
9.
BaillienEGriepYVander ElstTDe WitteH (2019) The relationship between organisational change and being a perpetrator of workplace bullying: A three-wave longitudinal study. Work & Stress33(3): 211–230.
10.
BaillienENeyensIDe WitteH (2008) Organizational, team-related and job-related risk factors for workplace bullying, violence and sexual harassment in the workplace: A qualitative study. International Journal of Organisational Behaviour13(2): 132–146.
11.
BaillienERodríguez-MuñozADe WitteHet al. (2011b) The Demand-Control model and target’s reports of bullying at work: A test within Spanish and Belgian blue-collar workers. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology20(2): 157–177.
12.
BakkerABDemeroutiE (2007) The Job Demands-Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology22(3): 309–328.
13.
BakkerABDemeroutiE (2017) Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology22(3): 273–285.
14.
BakkerABDemeroutiEEuwemaMC (2005) Job resources buffer the impact of job demands on burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology10(2): 170–180.
15.
BaltesBBBriggsTEHuffJWet al. (1999) Flexible and compressed workweek schedules: A meta-analysis of their effects on work-related criteria. Journal of Applied Psychology84(4): 496–513.
16.
BannerjiH (1995) Thinking Through: Essays on Feminism, Marxism and Anti-Racism. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press and Women’s Press.
17.
BerdahlJLMooreC (2006) Workplace harassment: Double jeopardy for minority women. Journal of Applied Psychology91(2), 426–436.
18.
BerlingieriA (2015) Workplace bullying: Exploring an emerging framework. Work, Employment and Society29(2): 342–353.
19.
BohlePQuinlanMMayhewC (2001) The health and safety effects of job insecurity: An evaluation of the evidence. The Economic and Labour Relations Review12(1): 54–61.
20.
BrownEDebaucheAHamelCMazuyM (eds) (2023) Violences et rapports de genre: enquête sur les violences de genre en France. Aubervilliers: INED Éditions.
21.
BrowneMWCudeckR (1993) Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
22.
CainMKZhangZBergemanCS (2018) Time and other considerations in mediation design. Educational and Psychological Measurement78(6): 952–972.
23.
ChamberlainLJCrowleyMTopeDHodsonR (2008) Sexual harassment in organizational context. Work and Occupations35(3): 262–295.
24.
ChoudharyECobenJHBossarteRM (2008) Gender and time differences in the associations between sexual violence victimization, health outcomes, and risk behaviors. American Journal of Men’s Health2(3): 254–259.
25.
ChoudharyESmithMBossarteRM (2012) Depression, anxiety, and symptom profiles among female and male victims of sexual violence. American Journal of Men’s Health6(1): 28–36.
26.
CollinsG (2005) The gendered nature of mergers. Gender, Work & Organization12(3): 270–290.
27.
CollinsGWickhamJ (2002) Experiencing mergers: A woman’s eye view. Women’s Studies International Forum25(5): 573–583.
28.
CortinaLMAreguinMA (2021) Putting people down and pushing them out: Sexual harassment in the workplace. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior8: 285–309.
29.
CortinaLMKubiakSP (2006) Gender and posttraumatic stress: Sexual violence as an explanation for women’s increased risk. Journal of Abnormal Psychology115(4): 753–759.
30.
CottiniELuciforaC (2013) Mental health and working conditions in Europe. Industrial and Labour Relations Review66(4): 958–988.
31.
CoupaudM (2023) Organizational change and psychosomatic symptoms: Exploring pathways through working conditions and assessing the moderating role of social support among European workers. Economic and Industrial Democracy44(2): 322–350.
32.
DekkerIBarlingJ (1998) Personal and organizational predictors of workplace sexual harassment of women by men. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology3(1): 7–18.
33.
De JongTWiezerNDe WeerdMet al. (2016) The impact of restructuring on employee wellbeing: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. Work and Stress30(1): 91–114.
34.
DemeroutiEBakkerABNachreinerFSchaufeliWB (2001) The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology86(3): 499–512.
35.
DenckerJC (2008) Corporate restructuring and sex differences in managerial promotion. American Sociological Review73(3): 455–476.
36.
DlouhyKCasperA (2021) Downsizing and surviving employees’ engagement and strain: The role of job resources and job demands. Human Resource Management60(3): 435–454.
37.
EinarsenSHoelHZapfDCooperCL (2011) The concept of bullying at work: The European tradition. In: EinarsenSHoelHZapfDCooperCL (eds) Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace: Developments in Theory, Research and Practice. London: Taylor & Francis, pp. 3–39.
38.
ElliottCSteadV (2018) Constructing women’s leadership representation in the UK press during a time of financial crisis: Gender capitals and dialectical tensions. Organization Studies39(1): 19–45.
Eurofound and European Commission Joint Research Centre (2021) European Jobs Monitor 2021: Gender gaps and the employment structure. European Jobs Monitor series. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
44.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2019) European Working Conditions Survey. [data series]. 2nd Release. UK Data Service. SN: 200014. DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-Series-200014.
FainTCAndertonDL (1987) Sexual harassment: Organizational context and diffuse status. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research17(5–6): 291–311.
49.
FairchildAJMacKinnonDPTaborgaMPTaylorAB (2009) R2 effect-size measures for mediation analysis. Behavior Research Methods41(2): 486–498.
50.
FergussonDMSwain-CampbellNRHorwoodLJ (2002) Does sexual violence contribute to elevated rates of anxiety and depression in females?Psychological Medicine32(6): 991–996.
51.
FitzgeraldL (2020) Unseen: The sexual harassment of low-income women in America. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal39(1): 5–16.
52.
FitzgeraldLFCortinaLM (2018) Sexual harassment in work organizations: A view from the 21st century. In: TravisCBWhiteJWRutherfordAet al. (eds) APA Handbook of the Psychology of Women: Perspectives on Women’s Private and Public Lives. Washington, DC: APA, pp. 215–234.
53.
FolkeORickneJ (2022) Sexual harassment and gender inequality in the labor market. The Quarterly Journal of Economics137(4): 2163–2212.
54.
FritzCVan KnippenbergD (2020) Gender and leadership aspiration: Supervisor gender, support, and job control. Applied Psychology69(3): 741–768.
55.
GallieD (2005) Work pressure in Europe 1996–2001: Trends and determinants. British Journal of Industrial Relations43(3): 351–375.
56.
GelfandMJFitzgeraldLFDrasgowF (1995) The structure of sexual harassment: A confirmatory analysis across cultures and settings. Journal of Vocational Behavior47(2): 164–177.
57.
GoffmanE (1963) Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
58.
GoodLCooperR (2016) ‘But it’s your job to be friendly’: Employees coping with and contesting sexual harassment from customers in the service sector. Gender, Work & Organization23(5): 447–469.
59.
GreenF (2001) It’s been a hard day’s night: The concentration and intensification of work in late 20th century Britain. British Journal of Industrial Relations39(1): 53–80.
60.
GreenF (2004) Why has work effort become more intense?Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society43(4): 709–741.
61.
GreenFMcIntoshS (2001) The intensification of work in Europe. Labour Economics8(2): 291–308.
62.
GreenFMostafaTParent-ThirionAet al. (2013) Is job quality becoming more unequal?Industrial and Labour Relations Review66(4): 753–784.
63.
GreenanNSeghirM (2022) Vulnerability to adverse working conditions in EU-15 countries: Empirical evidence over two decades. Revue d’économie politique32(5): 751–791.
64.
GreenanNKaluginaEWalkowiakE (2013) Has the quality of working life improved in the EU-15 between 1995 and 2005?Industrial and Corporate Change23(2): 399–428.
65.
GuschkeBLBusseKKhalidFet al. (2019) Sexual harassment in higher education: Experiences and perceptions among students at a Danish university. Kvinder, Køn & Forskning28(1–2): 11–30.
66.
HansonLLMNybergAMittendorfer-RutzEet al. (2020) Work related sexual harassment and risk of suicide and suicide attempts: Prospective cohort study. BMJ370: m2984.
67.
HärenstamABejerotELeijonOet al. (2004) Multilevel analyses of organizational change and working conditions in public and private sector. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology13(3): 305–343.
68.
HarneyBFuNFreeneyY (2018) Balancing tensions: Buffering the impact of organisational restructuring and downsizing on employee well-being. Human Resource Management Journal28(2): 235–254.
69.
HavemanHABroschakJPCohenLE (2009) Good times, bad times: The effects of organizational dynamics on the careers of male and female managers. In: BandeljN (ed.) Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 18. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing, pp. 119–148.
70.
HayesAF (2013) Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-based Approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
71.
HeideJBMinerA (1992) The shadow of the future: Effects of anticipated interaction and frequency of contact on buyer-seller cooperation. Academy of Management Journal35(2): 265–291.
72.
HeisigJPSchaefferMGieseckeJ (2017) The costs of simplicity: Why multilevel models may benefit from accounting for cross-cluster differences in the effects of controls. American Sociological Review82(4): 796–827.
73.
HennekamSBennettD (2017) Sexual harassment in the creative industries: Tolerance, culture and the need for change. Gender, Work & Organization24(4): 417–434.
74.
HlavkaHR (2017) Speaking of stigma and the silence of shame: Young men and sexual victimization. Men and Masculinities20(4): 482–505.
75.
HochschildARMachungA (2012) The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. New York: Penguin Books.
76.
HoelHSalinD (2003) Organisational antecedents of workplace bullying. In: EinarsenSHoelHZapfDCooperCL (eds) Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace: International Perspectives in Research and Practice. London: Taylor & Francis, pp. 203–218.
77.
HollandKJCortinaLM (2016) Sexual harassment: Undermining the wellbeing of working women. In: ConnerleyMLWuJ (eds) Handbook on Well-being of Working Women. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 83–101.
78.
HoltenA-LHancockGRMikkelsenEGet al. (2017) The longitudinal effects of organizational change on experienced and enacted bullying behaviour. Journal of Change Management17(1): 67–89.
79.
HuLTBentlerPM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal6(1): 1–55.
80.
IcenogleMLEagleBWAhmadSHanksLA (2002) Assessing perceptions of sexual harassment behaviors in a manufacturing environment. Journal of Business and Psychology16: 601–616.
81.
JiangKHongYMcKayPFet al. (2015) Retaining employees through anti-sexual harassment practices: Exploring the mediating role of psychological distress and employee engagement. Human Resource Management54(1): 1–21.
82.
KaiserGM (2004) The effects of downsizing on employee stress and organizational loyalty in the healthcare industry. PhD thesis, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX.
83.
KalevA (2014) How you downsize is who you downsize: Biased formalization, accountability, and managerial diversity. American Sociological Review79(1): 109–135.
84.
KanterRM (1977) Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books.
85.
KarambayyaR (1998) Caught in the crossfire: Women and corporate restructuring. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences15(4): 333–338.
86.
KarasekRAJr (1979) Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly24(2): 285–308.
87.
KeplingerKJohnsonSKKirkJFBarnesLY (2019) Women at work: Changes in sexual harassment between September 2016 and September 2018. PloS One14(7): e0218313.
88.
KerfootDKnightsD (1996) ‘The best is yet to come?’: The quest for embodiment in managerial work. In: CollinsonDHearnJ (eds) Men as Managers, Managers as Men: Critical Perspectives on Men, Masculinities and Managements. London: Sage, pp. 78–97.
89.
KivimäkiMVahteraJFerrieJEet al. (2001a) Organisational downsizing and musculoskeletal problems in employees: A prospective study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine58(12): 811–817.
90.
KivimäkiMVahteraJPenttiJFerrieJE (2000) Factors underlying the effect of organisational downsizing on health of employees: Longitudinal cohort study. British Medical Journal320(7240): 971–975.
91.
KivimäkiMVahteraJPenttiJet al. (2001b) Downsizing, changes in work, and self-rated health of employees: A 7-year 3-wave panel study. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping14(1): 59–73.
92.
KubicekBKorunkaCTementS (2014) Too much job control? Two studies on curvilinear relations between job control and eldercare workers’ well-being. International Journal of Nursing Studies51(12): 1644–1653.
93.
KubicekBPaškvanMBunnerJ (2017) The bright and dark sides of job autonomy. In: KorunkaCKubicekB (eds) Job Demands in a Changing World of Work: Impact on Workers’ Health and Performance and Implications for Research and Practice. Cham: Springer, pp. 45–63.
94.
LopezSHHodsonRRoscignoVJ (2009) Power, status, and abuse at work: General and sexual harassment compared. The Sociological Quarterly50(1): 3–27.
95.
Lutgen-SandvikPTracySJAlbertsJK (2007) Burned by bullying in the American workplace: Prevalence, perception, degree and impact. Journal of Management Studies44(6): 837–862.
96.
McCabeMPHardmanL (2005) Attitudes and perceptions of workers to sexual harassment. The Journal of Social Psychology145(6): 719–740.
97.
McLaughlinHUggenCBlackstoneA (2012) Sexual harassment, workplace authority, and the paradox of power. American Sociological Review77(4): 625–647.
98.
MaderaJMLeeLDawsonM (2019) Sexual harassment and sexual assault training: Consider the industry. Industrial and Organizational Psychology12(1): 96–99.
99.
MadsenIEHNielsenMBD (2023) Work-related sexual and gender harassment: Conceptual challenges and the need for evidence-based prevention. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health49(7): 449–452.
100.
MagleyVJShupeEI (2005) Self-labeling sexual harassment. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research53(3–4): 173–189.
101.
Messman-MooreTLBrownALKoelschLE (2005) Posttraumatic symptoms and self-dysfunction as consequences and predictors of sexual revictimization. Journal of Traumatic Stress18(3): 253–261.
102.
MickeyEL (2019) When gendered logics collide: Going public and restructuring in a high-tech organization. Gender & Society33(4): 509–533.
103.
MillánAMillánJMCaçador-RodriguesL (2020) Disclosing ‘masked employees’ in Europe: Job control, job demands and job outcomes of ‘dependent self-employed workers’. Small Business Economics55(2): 461–474.
104.
MulderRBosAERPouwelseMvan DamK (2017) Workplace mobbing: How the victim’s coping behavior influences bystander responses. Journal of Social Psychology157(1): 16–29.
OxenstiernaGElofssonSGjerdeMet al. (2012) Workplace bullying, working environment and health. Industrial Health50(3): 180–188.
107.
PerryELKulikCTGolomFDCruzM (2019) Sexual harassment training: Often necessary but rarely sufficient. Industrial and Organizational Psychology12(1): 89–92.
ProtheroA (2023) Me, the patriarchy, and the business school. Journal of Management Studies61(3): 1152–1159.
110.
ReichertARTauchmannH (2017) Workforce reduction, subjective job insecurity, and mental health. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization133(C): 187–212.
111.
ReuterMWahrendorfMDi TeccoCet al. (2020) Precarious employment and self-reported experiences of unwanted sexual attention and sexual harassment at work: An analysis of the European Working Conditions Survey. PLoS One15(5): e0233683.
112.
RigóMDraganoNWahrendorfMet al. (2021) Work stress on rise? Comparative analysis of trends in work stressors using the European working conditions survey. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health94: 459–474.
113.
RussellHMcGinnityF (2014) Under pressure: The impact of recession on employees in Ireland. British Journal of Industrial Relations52(2): 286–307.
114.
SalinDTenhiäläARobergeM-ÉBerdahlJL (2014) ‘I wish I had. . .’: Target reflections on responses to workplace mistreatment. Human Relations67(10): 1189–1211.
115.
SchumackerRELomaxRG (2004) A Beginner’s Guide to Structural Equation Modeling, 2nd edn. New York: Psychology Press.
116.
SigursteinsdottirHRafnsdottirGLJonsdottirGA (2020) Bullying and harassment in downsized workplaces: What can we learn from the 2008 Icelandic economic collapse?International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health17(19): 7180.
117.
SiutaRLBergmanME (2019) Sexual harassment in the workplace. In: KesslerEH (ed.) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
118.
SlovicP (2000) The Perception of Risk. London: Earthscan.
119.
SpectorPECoulterMLStockwellHGMatzMW (2007) Perceived violence climate: A new construct and its relationship to workplace physical violence and verbal aggression, and their potential consequences. Work & Stress21(2): 117–130.
120.
StegmuellerD (2013) How many countries for multilevel modeling? A comparison of frequentist and Bayesian approaches. American Journal of Political Science57(3): 748–761.
WarrP (1994) A conceptual framework for the study of work and mental health. Work & Stress8(2): 84–97.
123.
WarrPB (2013) Jobs and job-holders: Two sources of happiness and unhappiness. In: DavidSABoniwellIConley AyersA (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 733–750.
124.
WelshS (1999) Gender and sexual harassment. Annual Review of Sociology25(1): 169–190.
125.
ZapfDKnorzCKullaM (1996) On the relationship between mobbing factors, and job content, social work environment, and health outcomes. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology5(2): 215–237.
