scholarly journals The Psychology of Sexual Harassment

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn Meghan Burn
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Individual Group ◽  
Positive Individual ◽  
Inclusive Schools ◽  
Harmful Effects

Sexual harassment (SH) occurs when people are targets of unwanted sexual comments, sexual gestures, or sexual actions because of their actual or perceived gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Due to its frequency and harmful effects on people and organizations, and because it is often a symptom of social inequalities, SH is of concern to psychologists. Using psychological theory and research as well as intersectional and contextual lenses, this article describes how SH is varied in its forms, targets, and origins. I explore explanations for SH with a focus on sociocultural gender and power perspectives. I also employ a person-by-situation perspective to show how contextual factors interact with individual factors to influence incidence. Because reducing SH is important for safe and inclusive schools, organizations, and public settings, I identify possible solutions to this common social problem. Finally, I discuss how and why teaching about the psychology of SH can promote positive individual, group, organizational, and social change. In sum, I illustrate interesting and important psychological concepts and methods and show how psychology can be used to understand and treat social problems and inequalities.

Legislating Privilege

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc S. Spindelman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Affective Expressions

Serious concerns about pervasive, persistent, and unjustified social inequalities have prompted a small—but growing—number of academic commentators to raise some hard and troubling questions for those who would like to legalize physician-assisted suicide. In various ways, these commentators have asked: In light of existing social inequalities—inequalities that operate, for example, along sometimes intersecting lines of race, class, age, sex (including sexual orientation), and disability—how persuasive are autonomy-based arguments in favor of legalization of assisted suicide when those arguments depend (as they typically do) on a conception of autonomy that either presupposes social equality or does not expressly account for its absence? How compelling are arguments that we ought to legalize assisted suicide out of feelings of mercy for the sick and dying, when such affective expressions may actually be the socially acceptable manifestation of private ambivalence that includes merciless discrimination?

scholarly journals From sexual harassment to sexual assault: Prevalence and correlates of sexual trauma in the French military

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259182
Author(s):  
Caroline Moreau ◽  
Dina Bedretdinova ◽  
Sandrine Duron ◽  
Aline Bohet ◽  
Henri Panjo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Sexual Coercion ◽  
Sexual Trauma ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Us Military ◽  
French Military ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Sex With Men

Background Sexual harassment (SH) is prevalent in military settings and dependent on the workplace environment. Few studies have investigated this issue in non-US military settings nor have examined how contextual and individual factors related to Military Sexual Trauma (MST) vary by gender. Methods This study draws on a national sexual survey in the French military including 1268 servicemen and 232 servicewomen. We examined four sexual stressors (repeated sexual comments, sexual coercion, repeated unwanted verbal sexual attention and sexual assault (SA)) and two combined measures of verbal SH (comments, unwanted attention) and MST (all forms). We conducted multivariate logistic regressions to identify contextual and individual factors related to these outcomes. Results 36.7% of women and 17.5% of men experienced MST in the last year and 12.6% and 3.5% reported SA. Factors associated with verbal SH differed from those related to SA. The odds of verbal SH were elevated among men who had sex with men (OR = 3.5) and among women officers (OR = 4.6) while the odds of SA were elevated among men less than 25 years (OR = 3.5) and women with less than a high school diploma (OR = 10.9). The odds of SH increased by 20% to 80% when men worked in units with higher female representation, higher prevalence of MST (sexual comments, or sexual assault, coercion, repeated unwanted attention) and lower acceptance of women in the miliatry. The odds of SA also increased by 70% among men working in units with higher female representation and higher prevalence of sexual oppression. The odds of SA against women were particular high (OR = 5.7) in units with a high prevalence of sexual assault, coercion, or repeated unwanted attention. Conclusion MST is common in the French military, with women experiencing more severe forms than men. Our resuls call for programmatic action to reduce workplace factors related to verbal SH and SA in the French military.

scholarly journals Value Orientations and Quality of Life

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pejo Đurašinović
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
New System ◽  
People Today

Our topic focuses on the pre-war system of values, then the period of decadence and destruction of the system of values and value orientations in general, and the postwar system with its different views on values that goes through a period of the formation of awareness of values. The young will play the most important role in the formation of the new system of values.The phenomenon of values among young people today is a complex social problem that is influenced by a large number of factors. These various factors can be classified into biological, social and individual factors.

scholarly journals Mental health issues and discrimination among older LGBTI people

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 1411-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Tinney ◽  
Briony Dow ◽  
Phillip Maude ◽  
Rachel Purchase ◽  
Carolyn Whyte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Single Group ◽  
Individual Group ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
Lgbt People

LGBT is an acronym used to describe people from diverse sexual orientation or gender identity, people that are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. LGBT people do not constitute a single group nor does each individual “group” constitute a homogeneous unity. However, as higher rates of depression and/or anxiety have been observed in older LGBT people, compared to their heterosexual counterparts (Guasp, 2011) there is a need to raise the profile of mental health issues amongst these groups. The additional letter I is also often included in the acronym LGBTI as intersex people are often included as another gender diverse group. However, there is very little research that includes intersex people and none on older intersex people's mental health so this editorial is restricted to consideration of older LGBT people.

Juror perceptions of female-female sexual harassment: do sexual orientation and type of harassment matter?

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna E. Carlucci ◽  
Frank D. Golom
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Case Vignette ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Mock Jurors ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Decisions ◽  
Juror Perceptions ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how mock jurors perceive female-female sexual harassment. Design/methodology/approach Participants read a case vignette depicting female-female workplace sexual harassment where the sexual orientation of the harasser (lesbian vs heterosexual) and type of sexual harassment (approach vs reject vs generalized) were randomly assigned across participants. Participants were asked to make a liability determination for the case. They were also asked to rate the unwanted conduct on several legally relevant dimensions (e.g. severity, pervasiveness, and unwelcomeness). Findings Results revealed that the sexual orientation of the harasser is an important factor used to make legal decisions in same-sex sexual harassment cases. Participants found the same conduct to be more severe, pervasive, unwelcome, and threatening when the harasser was lesbian than when she was heterosexual. As hypothesized, female participants found more evidence of discrimination than male participants. Research limitations/implications These findings illustrate biases mock jurors may hold when making legal decisions in female-female sexual harassment cases. Practical implications Results are discussed in the context of decision-making models and possible future directions and interventions are explored. Originality/value The findings extend the literature on female same-sex sexual harassment.

A Cross-cultural Perspective on Judgments of Woman-to-woman Sexual Harassment: Does Sexual Orientation Matter?

Sex Roles ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 457-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eros R. DeSouza ◽  
Joseph Solberg ◽  
Cerqueira Elder
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Perspective

scholarly journals How Do People Perceive Sexual Harassment Targeting Transgender Women, Lesbians, and Straight Cisgender Women?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Mezzapelle ◽  
Anna Reiman
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Transgender Women ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Gender Harassment ◽  
Lesbian Woman ◽  
Specific Behavior ◽  
Male Colleague ◽  
And Gender

Third-party observers’ opinions affect how organizations handle sexual harassment. Prior research has focused on perceptions of sexual harassment targeting straight cisgender women. We examined how targets’ sexual orientation and gender identity impact these perceptions. In three preregistered studies, straight cisgender participants imagined a coworker confided that a male colleague had sexually harassed her. The target was a transgender woman, a lesbian woman, or a woman whose sexual orientation and gender identity were unspecified. In Study 1 (N=428), participants reported believing that sexual harassment targeting lesbians and women with unspecified identities was most likely motivated by attraction and power, whereas sexual harassment targeting transgender women was seen as most likely motivated by power and prejudice. Despite these differences in perceived motivation, in Study 2 (N=421) perceptions of appropriate consequences for the perpetrator did not vary based on the target’s identity. Study 3 (N=473) demonstrated that the specific behavior of which sexual harassment is assumed to consist differs based on the target’s identity. Whereas women with unspecified identities and lesbians were assumed to face stereotypical attraction-based harassment, transgender women were assumed to face gender harassment. Stereotypes about sexual harassment can bias third-party assumptions, invalidating experiences that do not match pervasive stereotypes.

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