An empirical examination of same- and other-gender sexual harassment in the workplace

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  Nov, 1998  by Cathy L.Z. DuBois,  Deborah E. Knapp,  Robert H. Faley,  Gary A. Kustis

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The stereotypical view of workplace sexual harassment (SH) is that harassment takes place between males and females. This view casts the perpetrator as a male and the target as a female. As a result, SH has often been described as a "power issue" because males are considered the power brokers in organizations (Farley, 1978).

As more women moved into more powerful positions in the workplace in the 1980's, research revealed that the gender roles of perpetrator and target were reversible. This research also revealed that the SH of males by female perpetrators was not insignificant (USMSPB 1981, 1988). Additional research has broadened the general view of SH to include same-gender SH which involves either a male target and male perpetrator or female target and female perpetrator (Berdahl, Magley & Waldo, 1996; McKinney, 1994; Martindale, 1988; Schneider, 1982; USMSPB, 1995; Waldo, Berdahl & Fitzgerald, 1998). More recently the Supreme Court's decision in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. (1998) reshaped the legal view of SH to include same-gender harassment. As noted by the Court, ". . .nothing in Title VII necessarily bars a claim of discrimination 'because of . . . sex' merely because the plaintiff and the defendant . . . are of the same sex."

Although there is a burgeoning literature that has explored the antecedents and consequences of other-gender SH, very little research on same-gender SH exists. Much of the same-gender research has been limited in scope to simply pointing out that same-gender SH occurs far less frequently than other-gender SH, and that same-gender SH is much more likely to occur between males than females (McKinney, 1994; Martindale, 1988; Schneider, 1982; USMSPB, 1995). Some of this research has explored the types of same-gender SH that occur among men, as well as the power issues involved in this type of SH (Berdahl et al., 1996 and Waldo et al., 1998).

Another focus of same-gender studies has been on issues related to sexual orientation. For example, D'Augelli (1989) examined the sexually harassing experiences of lesbians and gays and Schneider (1982) reported on the SH of female heterosexual and lesbian workers. However, although homosexuality is reported to be a factor in same-gender rape and sexual abuse (Hickson, Davies, Hunt, Weatherburn, McManus, & Coxon, 1994; Waterman, Dawson, & Bologna, 1989), it would be inappropriate to conclude that targets and/or perpetrators of same-gender SH were homosexual. To better understand this point, it is important to keep in mind that SH is usually not motivated by sexual attraction or sexual intentions. In fact, as noted above, SH is most often the result of factors related to power and dominance (Tangri, Burt, & Johnson, 1982; Cleveland and Kerst, 1993).

Same-Gender SH and Power

Power has consistently been posited as the main (though not exclusive) motivation for other-gender SH. Thus, research on power and the organizational, social, physical, and situational bases of power can provide useful insights into the motivations of same-gender SH (Bond, 1995; Berdahl et al., 1996; Cleveland & Kerst, 1993; Pryor & Whalen, 1997). Pryor & Whalen (1997) suggest that power provides a basis for one person to obtain leverage over another, and thereby the means by which the powerful (regardless of gender) impose their will upon the powerless.

Miller (1997) notes that individuals can be powerful and powerless simultaneously. For example, although coworkers may lack organizational power, they may still have situational or physical power over each other regardless of gender. For example, workgroup newcomers are especially vulnerable to the situational power of the group's more senior members who "know the ropes." And physically powerful coworkers can more easily dominate weaker coworkers, which can lead to gender harassment (Waldo, et al., 1998) as well as sexual coercion. In fact, situational and physical power were the primary underlying causes of the hazing-related same-gender SH that occurred in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. (1998).

As noted by Backman and Backman (1997) our patriarchal society bestows males with power, and the social definitions of the male gender-role emphasize and sanction aggressive, dominant, and even violent actions. On the other hand, the female gender-role places an emphasis on nurturing and supporting actions. These differences likely explain in part the greater prevalence of same-gender SH among males.

Berdahl et al. (1996) propose that targets of SH are more likely to feel harassed by behaviors that result in a perceived loss of control over personal and professional status and security. More specifically, these authors suggest that men feel harassed by behaviors they perceive challenge their masculinity while women feel harassed by behaviors they perceive reinforce their subordinate role in the workplace. Because men tend to wield more power in the workplace, challenges to their masculinity are more likely to come from other men; women usually lack this power.