The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

482 Chapter 12

harassment may be viewed as the product of

male hormones or as a normal part of male

courting behavior. One motive for sexual ha-

rassment may be to seek sexual intimacy. The

behavior becomes a problem, however, when

it is not desired on the part of the female.

Another theory of sexual harassment

is that it is a manifestation of patriarchy—

men’s dominance over women. According

to this view, harassment is a form of men

asserting their power over women and has

more to do with power than sex (Sandler &

Shoop, 1997; Tangri & Hayes, 1997). With

quid pro quo harassment, power is certainly

an important factor. However, even with

hostile environment harassment between

coworkers, some would argue that assertion

of power is the underlying motivation. Sex-

ual harassment is a way for men to reinforce

gender-role norms of men having power over

women (Stockdale & Bhattacharya, 2009).

The fact that women who violate gender-role

traditional occupations are likely to suffer quid

pro quo sexual harassment, whereas women

in nontraditional occupations are likely to suf-

fer from hostile environment sexual harass-

ment (Lach & Gwartney-Gibbs, 1993). When

women are in nontraditional jobs, they are

perceived by male peers as a threat to their

jobs. Sexual harassment is most likely to oc-

cur in situations where women reject the tra-

ditional female role. According to Burgess and

Borgida (1999), sexual harassment is a way of

punishing women who do not adhere to the

prescriptive component of stereotypes. Sexual

harassment is used to maintain the status dif-

ferential between women who threaten the

status quo and men.

Theories

One theory of sexual harassment is that it is

a natural and normal part of male–female

relationships (Tangri & Hayes, 1997). Sexual

TABLE 12.6 LIKELIHOOD TO SEXUALLY HARASS SCENARIO

Imagine you are a college professor. You are 38 years old; you teach in a large Midwestern univer-

sity; you are a full professor with tenure; you are renowned in your field (abnormal psychology) and

have numerous offers for other jobs. One day, following the return of an examination to a class, a

female student stops in your office. She tells you that her score is one point away from an A and

asks you if she can do an extra credit project to raise her score. She tells you that she may not have

a sufficient grade to get into graduate school without the A. Several other students have asked you

to do extra credit assignments and you have declined to let them. This particular woman is a stun-

ning blonde. She sits in the front row of the class every day and always wears short skirts. You find

her extremely sexy. How likely are you to do the following things in this situation?

a. Would you let her carry out a project for extra credit (e.g., write a paper)?

Not at all likely 1 2 3 4 5 Very likely

b. Assuming that you are very secure in your job and the university has always tolerated profes-

sors who make passes at students, would you offer the student a chance to earn extra credit in

return for sexual favors?

Not at all likely 1 2 3 4 5 Very likely

c. Given the same assumptions as in the question above, would you ask her to join you for dinner

to discuss the possible extra credit assignments?

Not at all likely 12345 Very likely

Source: Pryor (1998).

M12_HELG0185_04_SE_C12.indd 482 6/21/11 9:16 AM