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The Influence of Sex, Gender Bias, and Dress Style on Attitudes Toward Sexual Harassment
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by Kyle P. Weber, Lisa M. Bauer, and Tomas E. Martinez - Pepperdine University and University of Missouri-Columbia
This study examined the influence of sex, gender bias, and victim
dress style (conservative vs. provocative) on attitudes toward a perceived
instance of sexual harassment (SH). A convenience sample of 172 liberal
arts college undergraduates responded to a series of surveys measuring SH
behavior and attitudes toward this instance of SH and completed an implicit
association task measuring gender bias. Results showed that biological sex
significantly interacted with dress style and gender bias groupings. Within
various gender bias classifications women disagreed more strongly than
men that perpetrators of SH should receive no punishment. Similarly,
women in the provocative dress style group disagreed more strongly than
men in the provocative dress style group that the perpetrator should receive
no punishment (p = .017). These findings show that the three factors
examined in this study (biological sex, gender bias, and dress style)
significantly influence SH attitudes. These findings may be utilized in
organizational settings, as they illustrate key factors that influence
perceptions of SH.
Fall 2012 | Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research (Vol. 14, No. 1, p. 35), published by Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology (Chattanooga, TN). Copyright, 2012, Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology. All rights reserved.