Not wanted in the inbox!: Evaluations of unsolicited and harassing e-mail

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3463-5704

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Psychology of Women Quarterly

Publication Date

9-1-2004

Volume

28

Issue

3

First Page

204

Last Page

214

DOI

10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00137.x

Abstract

This study was designed as a first step to explore sexual harassment in the electronic domain. One hundred six students read 10 e-mail messages ranging from jokes to spam to a sexual proposition from a stranger and rated them on an offensiveness evaluative scale. Participants also completed social desirability and attitudes toward sexual harassment scales. Messages with sexual content were generally perceived less favourably than e-mail without such content. Gender was critical to the experience of receiving many types of e-mail messages. When the e-mail content was perceived to be offensive, women found it more offensive than did men. Marked gender differences emerged in response to the sexual proposition, which women perceived to be extremely offensive while men rated it as somewhat enjoyable. Tolerance of sexual harassment and familiarity with a type of e-mail were also related to lower offensiveness evaluations for some messages.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS