Should I confront him? men's reactions to hypothetical confrontations of peer sexual harassment

Author ORCID Identifier

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

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Sex Roles

Publication Date

5-15-2009

Volume

61

Issue

5-6

First Page

399

Last Page

415

Keywords

Confrontation, Peer harassment, Reactions, Sexual harassment

DOI

10.1007/s11199-009-9638-0

Abstract

This study investigated how men react to a hypothetical confrontation by a woman of a male sexual harasser. Participants were 250 male undergraduates from a Canadian university who read scenarios depicting sexual harassment that varied by type of harassment and style of confrontation. Findings suggest that men have more negative feelings and opinions of a female confronter, and would engage in more negative verbal behaviour if confronted about subtle versus overt harassment. Contrary to prediction, assertive/hostile confrontation styles were related to only limited negative reactions. Although this study found that men's reported reactions were not markedly negative, we discuss the importance of these results for women in understanding what factors may increase the chance that men will react negatively. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009.

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