Predicting Sexual Harassment From Hostile Sexism and Short-Term Mating Orientation: Relative Strength of Predictors Depends on Situational Priming of Power Versus Sex

Abstract

Previous research has shown that short-term mating orientation (STMO) and hostile sexism (HS) selectively predict different types of sexual harassment. In a priming experiment, we studied the situational malleability of those effects. Male participants could repeatedly send sexist jokes (gender harassment), harassing remarks (unwanted sexual attention), or nonharassing messages to a (computer-simulated) female target. Before entering the laboratory, participants were unobtrusively primed with the concepts of either sexuality or power. As hypothesized, sexuality priming strengthened the link between STMO and unwanted sexual attention, whereas power priming strengthened the link between HS and gender harassment. Practical implications are discussed.

Keywords

sexual harassment priming motivation computer harassment paradigm

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allan

Coltrane

(1996). Gender displaying television commercials: A comparative study of television commercials in the 1950s and 1980s. Sex Roles, 35, 185-203. doi:10.1007/BF01433106

Bailey

Kirk

K. M.

Zhu

Dunne

M. P.

Martin

N. G.

(2000). Do individual differences in sociosexuality represent genetic or environmentally contingent strategies? Evidence from the Australian twin registry. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 537-545. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.78.3.537

Banaji

M. R.

Hardin

C. D.

(1996). Automatic stereotyping. Psychological Science, 7, 136-141. doi:10.111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00346.x

Barak

(2005). Sexual harassment on the internet. Social Science Computer Review, 23, 77-92. doi:10.1177/0894439304271540

Bargh

J. A.

Chen

Burrows

(1996). Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 230-244. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.2.230

Bargh

J. A.

Gollwitzer

P. M.

Lee-Chai

Barndollar

Trötschel

(2001). The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1014-1027. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.6.1014

Bargh

J. A.

Raymond

Pryor

J. B.

Strack

(1995). Attractiveness of the underling: An automatic power → sex association and its consequences for sexual harassment and aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 768-781. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.68.5.768

Bell

M. P.

Quick

J. C.

Cycyota

C. S.

(2002). Assessment and prevention of sexual harassment of employees: An applied guide to creating healthy organizations. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 10, 160-167. doi:10.1111/1468-2389.00203

Berdahl

J. L.

Moore

(2006). Workplace harassment: Double jeopardy for minority women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 426-436. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.91.2.426

10.

Bohner

Jarvis

C. I.

Eyssel

Siebler

(2005). The causal impact of rape myth acceptance on men’s rape proclivity: Comparing sexually coercive and noncoercive men. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 819-828. doi:10.1002/ejsp.284

11.

Bohner

Reinhard

M. A.

Rutz

Sturm

Kerschbaum

Effler

(1998). Rape myths as neutralizing cognitions: Evidence for a causal impact of anti-victim attitudes on men’s self-reported likelihood of raping. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 257-268. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199803/04)28:2<257::AID-EJSP871>3.0.CO;2-1

12.

Bohner

Siebler

Schmelcher

(2006). Social norms and the likelihood of raping: Perceived rape myth acceptance of others affects men’s rape proclivity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 286-297. doi:10.1177/0146167205280912

13.

Bohner

Siebler

Sturm

Effler

Litters

Reinhard

M. A.

Rutz

(1998). Rape myth acceptance and accessibility of the gender category. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 1, 67-79.

14.

Bohner

Wänke

(2004). Priming of AIDS and reactions to infidelity: Are sex differences in jealousy context-dependent? Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 35, 107-114. doi:10.1024/0044-3514.35.3.107

15.

Buss

D. M.

Schmitt

D. P.

(1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100, 204-232. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.100.2.204

16.

Chan

Chun

Chow

Cheung

(2008). Examining the job-related, psychological, and physical outcomes of workplace sexual harassment: A meta-analytic review. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 362-376. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.00451.x

17.

Chartrand

T. L.

Bargh

J. A.

(2002). Nonconscious motivations: Their activation, operation, and consequences. In Tesser

Stapel

Wood

(Eds.), Self and motivation: Emerging psychological perspectives (pp. 13-41). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

18.

Chawki

el Shazly

(2013). Online sexual harassment: Issues & solutions. Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and E-Commerce Law, 4, 71-86.

19.

Dall’Ara

Maass

(1999). Studying sexual harassment in the laboratory: Are egalitarian women at higher risk? Sex Roles, 41, 681-704. doi:10.1023/A:1018816025988

20.

Diehl

Glaser

Bohner

(2014). Face the consequences: Learning about victim’s suffering reduces sexual harassment myth acceptance and men’s likelihood to sexually harass. Aggressive Behavior, 40, 489-503. doi:10.1002/ab.21553

21.

Diehl

Rees

Bohner

(2012). Flirting with disaster: Short-term mating orientation and hostile sexism predict different types of sexual harassment. Aggressive Behavior, 38, 521-531. doi:10.1002/ab.21444

22.

Eagly

A. H.

Wood

(1999). The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles. American Psychologist, 54, 408-423. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.54.6.408

23.

Eckes

Six-Materna

(1999). Hostilität und Benevolenz: Eine Skala zur Erfassung des ambivalenten Sexismus [Hostility and benevolence: A measure of ambivalent sexism]. Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 30, 211-228. doi:10.1024//0044-3514.30.4.211

24.

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (2014). Violence against women: An EU-wide survey (Main results). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Retrieved from http://www.fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-vaw-survey-main-results_en.pdf

25.

Eyssel

Bohner

(2007). The rating of sexist humor under time pressure as an indicator of spontaneous sexist attitudes. Sex Roles, 57, 651-660. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9302-5

26.

Fitzgerald

L. F.

Drasgow

Hulin

C. L.

Gelfand

M. J.

Magley

V. J.

(1997). Antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment in organizations: A test of an integrated model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 578-589. doi:10.1037//0021-9010.82.4.578

27.

Fitzgerald

L. F.

Magley

V. J.

Drasgow

Waldo

C. R.

(1999). Measuring sexual harassment in the military: The sexual experiences questionnaire (SEQ-DoD). Military Psychology, 11, 243-263. doi:10.1207/s15327876mp1103_3

28.

Fitzgerald

L. F.

Swan

Magley

V. J.

(1997). But was it really sexual harassment? Legal, behavioral, and psychological definitions of the workplace victimization of women. In O’Donohue

(Ed.), Sexual harassment: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 5-28). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

29.

Fitzsimons

G. M.

Bargh

J. A.

(2003). Thinking of you: Nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 148-164. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.148

30.

Flores

S. A.

Hartlaub

M. G.

(1998). Reducing rape-myth acceptance in male college students: A meta-analysis of intervention studies. Journal of College Student Development, 39, 438-448.

31.

Gelfand

M. J.

Fitzgerald

L. F.

Drasgow

(1995). The structure of sexual harassment: A confirmatory analysis across cultures and settings. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 47, 164-177. doi:10.1006/jvbe.1995.1033

32.

Glick

Fiske

S. T.

(1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 491-512. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491

33.

Glick

Fiske

S. T.

(2001). An ambivalent alliance: Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality. American Psychologist, 56, 109-118.

34.

Heckhausen

(1989). Motivation und Handeln [Motivation and action]. Berlin, Germany: Springer.

35.

Higgins

E. T.

(1996). Knowledge activation: Accessibility, applicability and salience. In Higgins

E. T.

Kruglanski

A. W.

(Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 133-168). New York: Guilford.

36.

Ilies

Hauserman

Schwochau

Stibal

(2003). Reported incidence rates of work-related sexual harassment in the United States: Using meta-analysis to explain reported rate disparities. Personnel Psychology, 56, 607-631. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2003.tb00752.x

37.

Jackson

J. J.

Kirkpatrick

L. A.

(2007). The structure and measurement of human mating strategies: Toward a multidimensional model of sociosexuality. Evolution & Human Behavior, 28, 382-391. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.04.005

38.

Kay

A. C.

Ross

(2003). The perceptual push: The interplay of implicit cues and explicit situational construals on behavioral intentions in the Prisoner’s Dilemma. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 634-643. doi:10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00057-X

39.

Koss

M. P.

Goodman

L. A.

Browne

Fitzgerald

L. F.

Keita

G. P.

Russo

N. F.

(1994). No safe haven: Male violence against women at home, at work, and in the community. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

40.

Lazier-Smith

(1989). A new “genderation” of images to women. In Creedon

P. J.

(Ed.), Women in mass communications: Challenging gender values (pp. 247-260). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

41.

Maass

Cadinu

Guarnieri

Grasselli

(2003). Sexual harassment under social identity threat: The computer harassment paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 853-870. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.853

42.

McDonald

(2012). Workplace sexual harassment 30 years on: A review of the literature. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14, 1-17. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00300.x

43.

Nielsen

M. B.

Einarsen

(2012). Prospective relationships between workplace sexual harassment and psychological distress. Occupational Medicine, 62, 226-228. doi:10.1093/occmed/kqs010

44.

Penke

Asendorpf

J. B.

(2008). Beyond global sociosexual orientations: A more differentiated look at sociosexuality and its effects on courtship and romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1113-1135. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.5.1113

45.

Pina

Gannon

T. A.

(2012). An overview of the literature on antecedents, perceptions and behavioural consequences of sexual harassment. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 18, 209-232. doi:10.1080/13552600.2010.501909

46.

Richman

J. A.

Rospenda

K. M.

Nawyn

S. J.

Flaherty

J. A.

Fendrich

Drum

Johnson

T. P.

(1999). Sexual harassment and generalized workplace abuse among university employees: Prevalence and mental health correlates. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 358-363. doi:10.2105/AJPH.89.3.358

47.

Rospenda

K. M.

Richman

J. A.

Shannon

C. A.

(2009). Prevalence and mental health correlates of harassment and discrimination in the workplace: Results from a national study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 819-843. doi:10.1177/0886260508317182

48.

Rudman

L. A.

Borgida

(1995). The afterglow of construct accessibility: The behavioral consequences of priming men to view women as sexual objects. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 493-517. doi:10.1006/jesp.1995.1022

49.

Rudolph

Böhm

Lummer

(2007). Ein Vorname sagt mehr als 1000 Worte: Zur sozialen Wahrnehmung von Vornamen [A name is worth a thousand words: On the social perception of first names]. Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 38, 17-31. doi:10.1024/0044-3514.38.1.17

50.

Samuels

(2004). A defining moment: A feminist perspective on the law of sexual harassment in the workplace in the light of the Equal Treatment Amendment Directive. Feminist Legal Studies, 12, 181-211. doi:10.1023/B:FEST.0000043307.48041.64

51.

Schmitt

D. P.

(2005). Sociosexuality from Argentina to Zimbabwe: A 48-nation study of sex, culture, and strategies of human mating. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 247-275. doi:10.1017/So14o525X05000051

52.

Schwarz

Strack

(1981). Manipulating salience: Causal assessment in natural settings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 554-558. doi:10.1177/014616728174005

53.

Siebler

Sabelus

Bohner

(2008). A refined computer harassment paradigm: Validation, and test of hypotheses about target characteristics. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 22-35. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00404.x

54.

Simpson

J. A.

Gangestad

S. W.

(1991). Individual differences in sociosexuality: Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 870-883. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.60.6.870

55.

Sprankle

E. L.

End

C. M.

Bretz

M. N.

(2012). Sexually degrading music videos and lyrics: Their effects on males’ aggression and endorsement of rape myths and sexual stereotypes. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, 24, 31-39. doi:10.1027/1864-1105/a000060

56.

Strack

Schwarz

Bless

Kübler

Wänke

(1993). Awareness of the influence as a determinant of assimilation versus contrast. European Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 53-62. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420230105

57.

Studd

M. V.

(1996). Sexual harassment. In Malamuth

N. M.

Buss

D. M.

(Eds.), Sex, power, conflict: Evolutionary and feminist perspectives (pp. 54-89). New York: Oxford University Press.

58.

Tajfel

(1978). Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations. London, England: Academic Press.

59.

Thornhill

Palmer

C. T.

(2000). A natural history of rape: Biological bases of sexual coercion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

60.

Till

F. J.

(1980). Sexual harassment: A report on the sexual harassment of students. Washington, DC: National Advisory Council on Women’s Educational Programs.

61.

Vorauer

J. D.

Gagnon

Sasaki

S. J.

(2009). Salient intergroup ideology and intergroup interaction. Psychological Science, 20, 838-845. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02369.x

62.

Willness

C. R.

Steel

Lee

(2007). A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of workplace sexual harassment. Personnel Psychology, 60, 127-162. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00067.x

63.

Yao

M. Z.

Mahood

Linz

(2010). Sexual priming, gender stereotyping, and likelihood to sexually harass: Examining the cognitive effects of playing a sexually-explicit video game. Sex Roles, 62, 77-88. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00067.x