A study in the March 2009 issue of Journal of Applied Psychology demonstrated relations between men's perceptions of organizational justice and increased inclination towards sexual harassment. The researchers used a sample of 110 male employees of different companies in Switzerland. They were assessed with a battery of measures examining attitudes towards women, organizational policies, and personality traits. Respondents reported higher likelihood to sexually harass under conditions of low interactional justice, suggesting that sexual harassment likelihood may increase as a response to perceived injustice. The relation between justice and sexual harassment tendencies was especially marked for men low in agreeableness and high in hostile sexism. This finding is consistent with an interactionist perspective, suggesting that individual differences in hostility in general and toward women in particular affect how a person reacts to perceived unfairness. The authors discuss their results in terms of the study's limitations and the need for additional research into harassment.
Post a comment
Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.
Your Information
(Name and email address are required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)
Comments