Tolerance of sexual harassment: An examination of gender differences, ambivalent sexism, social dominance, and gender roles

Brenda L. Russell, Kristin Y. Trigg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

203 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study we examined the effects of gender, gender roles (masculinity and femininity), ambivalent sexism, and social dominance orientation with regard to tolerance of sexual harassment. It was predicted that women would be less tolerant than men of sexual harassment, however, men and women who were tolerant of sexual harassment would share ambivalence and hostility toward women, and they would exhibit higher levels of social dominance and masculinity. Results partially supported the hypotheses. Women were significantly less tolerant of harassment than men were, however, regression analyses showed that ambivalent sexism and hostility toward women accounted for the majority of total variance (35%), followed by gender (5%), social dominance (1%), femininity (0.7%), and nonsexism (0.6%). Masculinity and benevolent sexism were not significant predictors. Results suggest that ambivalence and hostility toward women are much greater predictors of tolerance of sexual harassment than is gender alone.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)565-573
Number of pages9
JournalSex Roles
Volume50
Issue number7-8
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2004

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Gender Studies
  • Social Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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