Perceptions of sexual harassment: An evolutionary perspective

Abstract

Abstract Much of what we know about perceptions of hostile‐environment sexual harassment remains unclear; therefore, scholars have called for greater theory development and theory‐guided research. We present an evolutionary psychological framework for understanding sexual harassment perceptions and use that perspective to examine the effects of age, sex, status, and power on perceptions of hostile‐environment harassment. In Study 1, we examined the effects of observer age, sex, and behavioral severity on harassment perceptions. Age had a significant effect, with older women viewing sexually‐toned behaviors as more harassing than younger women. Observer sex also had a significant effect, with females perceiving sexually‐toned behaviors — primarily the severe behaviors — as more harassing. Behavioral severity had a strong and significant effect on perceptions of both sexes. In Study 2, we examined how initiator status and power affected harassment perceptions. As expected, initiator power had a strong main ...