476 Chapter 12hostile environment sexual harassment, the
U.S. Supreme Court has set forth guidelines
that both the alleged victim and a “reason-
able person” must perceive the behavior as
hostile (Weiner & Gutek, 1999). Not sur-
prisingly, this standard has been difficult to
implement.
There is consensus across studies of
undergraduates and adult populations that
some behaviors are clearly sexual harassment
and some are not (Frazier, Cochran, & Olson,
1995). Sexual propositions, sexual coercion,
and sexual touching are viewed as sexual
harassment by almost everyone. Sexist com-
ments, jokes, coarse language, flirting, and
staring, however, are typically not viewed as
harassment. There is more agreement that
harassment has occurred when behaviors are
physical (e.g., petting, pinching) rather than
verbal (e.g., sexual comments, innuendoes).
Undergraduates are less likely than other
adults to view behaviors as sexual harassment.
There are three levels of sexual harass-
ment (Fitzgerald, Gelfand, & Drasgow, 1995).
They are shown in Table 12.3, in order from
least to most severe. The first two levels are
more similar to hostile environment sexual
harassment, whereas the third reflects quid
pro quo sexual harassment. There is more
agreement that harassment has occurred at
the most severe levels. One common instru-
ment used to measure sexual harassment,It is difficult to definesexual harassment
exclusively in terms of behavior because a
given behavior can be construed as harass-
ment in some instances and not others. Al-
though some behaviors can clearly be defined
as sexual harassment, such as a sexual bribe,
others cannot be objectively classified as ha-
rassment in an absolute sense. How can you
tell whether a comment or a look is flirting
or harassment? Paludi and Barickman (1998)
have suggested that one way to determine
whether a behavior is harassment is to ex-
amine whether the recipient has the freedom
to pursue the relationship. If the person feels
free to pursue or not pursue the relationship,
the behavior is not harassment; if the person
feels she or he has no choice, the behavior
is harassment. A second way to determine
whether a behavior is harassment is to exam-
ine the effect of the behavior on the person.
If the behavior makes one feel good and even
attractive, the behavior is not harassment; if
the behavior makes one feel uncomfortable,
the behavior is harassment. These defini-
tional distinctions are problematic because
they rely on the recipient’s interpretation
of the behavior. One recipient may feel un-
comfortable when a person whistles at her,
whereas another recipient may feel attractive.
Much of this discussion has focused
on the psychological rather than the legal
definition ofsexual harassment. In definingTABLE 12.3 LEVELS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
- Gender harassment sexist comments
suggestive stories - Unwanted sexual attention leering
attempts at touching
repeated requests for dates - Sexual coercion bribes and threats involving sex
negative consequences for refusals to have sex
Source: Fitzgerald et al. (1995).
M12_HELG0185_04_SE_C12.indd 476 6/21/11 9:16 AM