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Are men sexually harassed? If so, by whom?
C R Waldo1, J L Berdahl, L F Fitzgerald
1University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. cwaldo@psg.ucsf.edu
Law and Human Behavior
|March 6, 1998
Summary
Men experience sexual harassment from other men as frequently as from women. However, most men report minimal negative reactions to these male-perpetrated sexual harassment incidents.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Legal Studies
Background:
- Sexual harassment research has expanded to include men's experiences.
- Previous research often overlooked power dynamics and assumed heterosexual contexts.
- Limited understanding exists regarding male-male sexual harassment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine legal cases of male-male sexual harassment.
- To report the frequency of harassment experiences among working men and perpetrator's sex.
- To assess men's psychological evaluations of these harassment situations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of legal cases involving male-male harassment.
- Survey data from three large samples of working men.
- Evaluation of men's perceptions of harassment.
Main Results:
- Men experience potentially sexually harassing behaviors from other men as often as from women.
- Men reported relatively few negative reactions to male-perpetrated harassment across all samples.
- Legal cases reveal diverse forms and situations of male-male harassment.
Conclusions:
- Men's experiences with sexual harassment are not limited to female perpetrators.
- The psychological impact and interpretation of male-male harassment warrant further investigation.
- Future research should explore predictors and outcomes to understand the meaning of this behavior for male targets.