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Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedVariation in the application of the "promiscuous female" stereotype and the nature of the application domain: influences on sexual harassment judgments after exposure to the Jerry Springer Show
Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, April, 2005 by Tara Ferguson, Jeff Berlin, Erica Noles, James Johnson, William Reed, C. Vincent Spicer
Although the present results are consistent with previous research that indicated that exposure to media images of promiscuous women can have implications for later judgments, they also provide a number of extensions of research in this area. First, and most important, the present findings demonstrated that the influence of exposure to images of promiscuous women on subsequent judgments of sexual aggression can be mediated by the extent that the promiscuous female stereotype is applied to the victim. This is one of the first empirical demonstrations that there are factors that mediate the impact of exposure to media images of stereotypically sexual women on subsequent judgments of sexual aggression. Second, the findings also indicate that exposure to nonpornographic images of promiscuous women from "easily accessible" media sources (i.e., a popular television program) can have deleterious consequences. Previous research in this area has tended to focus on the impact of exposure to pornographic images of promiscuous women from less accessible media outlets (Donnerstein et al., 1987; Zillman & Bryant, 1982). Third, the present results provide one of the first empirical investigations of the role of exposure to images of promiscuous women on sexual harassment judgments. Although Lavine, Sweeney, and Wagner (1999) contended that repeated exposure to such images can contribute to "a broad range of social problems ... including sexual harassment" (p. 1049), previous research in this area has tended to be limited to the impact of media exposure on rape perceptions (Donnerstein et al., 1987; Donnerstein & Malamuth, 1997; Malamuth, 1987). Fourth, the findings indicated that the impact of exposure to images of stereotypically sexual women in a popular television show was not moderated by the extent of previous exposure to that show. More important, perceived impact of exposure to the show was moderated by previous exposure. When compared to those in the low exposure group, those in the high exposure group were less likely to believe that such shows could affect attitudes and behavior. Paradoxically, these findings indicate that individuals with the greatest amount of exposure to the negative media images were least likely to be aware of the potential effects of such exposure. Thus, taken together, the present findings provide additional empirical leverage to the contention that the impact of exposure to stereotypical media stimuli "may be both significant and insidious" (Johnson et al., 2000, p. 249).
Table I. Mean Trauma Perceptions as a Function of Exposure Condition and
Harassment Type
Exposure condition
Harassment type Promiscuous Nonpromiscuous
Verbal comment 1.83 (2.49) 4.01 (2.34)
Verbal request 3.35 (2.61) 4.68 (1.91)
Physical display 4.63 (2.49) 4.57 (2.12)
Note. Higher values indicate greater trauma perception. Standard
deviations appear in parentheses.
Table II. Mean Attributions of Victim Responsibility as a Function of
Exposure Condition and Harassment Type
Exposure condition
Harassment type Promiscuous Nonpromiscuous
Verbal comment 6.45 (2.57) 4.07 (2.48)
Verbal request 5.20 (2.76) 3.52 (2.45)
Physical display 3.01 (2.30) 3.35 (2.76)
Note. Higher values indicate greater attribution of victim
responsibility. Standard deviations appear in parentheses.
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