Investigated women's immediate reactions to sexually harassing questions encountered during realistic job interviews, comparing behavioral and emotional responses to those in imagined harassing interviews. Interviewees who were actually harassed reacted very differently from those who only imagined their responses. Imagined victims anticipated…

A factorial survey, in which college students rated sexual harassment involved in hypothetical situations, showed consistent ratings across student populations and judgment tasks. Findings indicated that the factors that determined defining an incident as sexual harassment were not entirely the same as the determinants of perceived seriousness of…

Investigated the incidence, nature, and impact of everyday sexism among college students. Data from daily diaries indicated that women experienced one to two significant sexist incidents per week that affected their psychological well-being (e.g., gender role stereotypes, prejudice, demeaning comments and behaviors, and sexual objectification).…

Summarizes legal and institutional definitions and policies regarding sexual harassment in academic settings; reviews current research on the problem; and suggests that, while legal, institutional, and operational definitions and conclusions concerning sexual harassment in academic institutions vary, evidence indicates that the problem exists in…

Critically reviews research on lay peoples' definition of sexual harassment, what behaviors are considered harassing, the effects of harasser status on perceptions of harassment, and gender differences in sexual harassment definitions. Results suggest more lay awareness of what constitutes harassing behavior, but less consistency in the effects of…

Considers sexual harassment from the perspective of abuse of power, and discusses the possibility of having power within a situation that automatically and nonconsciously triggers a sexuality schema, just as racial or gender features automatically trigger stereotypes of that group. The possible origins of the automatic power/sex linkage and its…

In a factorial survey of university teachers' and students' perceptions of sexual harassment, judgments of harassment were most influenced by the behavior and intentions of the male instructor in a given situation. Information about past relationships between student and instructor, and about the student's suggestive behavior, tended to modify…

Examined how events considered "normal" or "acceptable" by some people at one time are now recalled and reconstructed as "harassment." Analysis is presented of the stories of 21 women who experienced events that earlier were not called sexual harassment. It compares the experiences of "preverbal" children and adults who recall events as assaultive…

Presents a Person X Situation (PXS) model of sexual harassment suggesting that sexually harassing behavior may be predicted from an analysis of social situational and personal factors. Research on sexual harassment proclivities in men is reviewed, and a profile of men who have a high a likelihood to sexually harass is discussed. Possible PXS…

Theorizes that workplace sexual harassment results from the complex interplay of ambivalent motives and gender stereotyping of women and jobs. It argues that ambivalence combines hostile and "benevolent" sexist motives based on paternalism, gender differentiation, and heterosexuality and that organizational context can encourage or discourage the…