Date of Award

1998

Degree Name

Psychology

College

College of Liberal Arts

Type of Degree

M.A.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Christopher W. LeGrow

Second Advisor

Helen E. Linkey

Third Advisor

Stuart Thomas

Fourth Advisor

Leonard J. Deutsch

Abstract

Evaluations of scenarios describing workplace sexual harassment rendered through interpersonal versus technological means and rendered by a supervisor versus a co-worker were made by 178 college students (95 females and 83 males; M age = 23). The participants rated the seventeen sexual harassment scenarios using a three-point scale (1 = yes; 2 =no; 3 = unsure). For each scenario, participants rated whether the behavior in the scenario (1) was sexual harassment, (2) was inappropriate, but not necessarily sexual harassment, (3) would be a comfortable experience if the participant was a target of the behavior, and (4) was serious enough to report the activity to the organization. In addition, participants answered eight questions measuring experiences with sexual harassment and business technology. Results indicated that females held less accepting attitudes toward sexual harassment than males, that sexual harassment was more serious when rendered by a supervisor as opposed to a co-worker, that females perceived supervisor rendered harassment as most severe, and that females compared to males were less comfortable with sexual harassment when rendered through technological as opposed to interpersonal means.

Subject(s)

Sexual harassment – Research.

Technology – Moral and ethical aspects.

Technology – Social aspects.

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