2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

Workplace Reprisals: A Model of Retaliation Following Unprofessional
Gender-Related Behavior 1
Alayne J. Ormerod, Ph.D. and Caroline Vaile Wright,
University of Illinois
603 East Daniel Street
Champaign, IL 61820
aonnerod@s.psych.uiuc.edu
Retaliation is considered to be both a deterrent to and consequence of reporting sexual
harassment. Existing research suggests that reporters of harassment routinely experience retaliation
and that reporting worsens outcomes beyond that of harassment alone (Coles, 1986; Hesson-
McInnis & Fitzgerald, 1997; Loy & Stewart, 1984; Stockdale, 1998). Interestingly, the relationship
between reporting and outcomes may be indirect, that is, reporting appears to trigger "postreporting"
variables that exert a negative influence on outcomes (Bergman, Langhout, Cortina,
Palmieri, & Fitzgerald, 2002). The goal of this paper is to examine one such post-reporting
variable, retaliation that follows from experiences of unprofessional, gender-related behavior, in a
sample of military personnel.
UNPROFESSIONAL, GENDER-RELATED BEHAVIOR IN THE MILITARY
Retaliation occurs in the context of sexual harassment and other unprofessional, gender-related
behavior (UGRB), 2 thus it is important to consider that context. In an issue of Military Psychology
entirely devoted to sexual harassment in the Armed Forces (Drasgow, 1999), Fitzgerald, Drasgow,
& Magley (1999) tested a model that provided an integrated framework for understanding the
predictors and outcomes of sexual harassment. Their findings, applicable to both male and female
personnel, suggest that harassment occurs more often when personnel perceive that leadership
efforts, practices, and training do not address issues of harassment and when work groups are not
gender-integrated. Experiences of harassment were associated with decrements in job satisfaction
and psychological and physical well being. In turn, lowered job satisfaction was associated with
lowered organizational commitment and work productivity. These relationships also apply to the
civilian workforce (Fitzgerald, Drasgow, Huhn, Gelfand, & Magley, 1997). Given that UGRB is
the major stimulus for retaliation, the general model is a starting point for examining those
variables considered antecedents and outcomes of retaliation.
1 This paper is part of a symposium, entitled Sexual Harassment in the Military: Recent Research Findings,
presented at the 2003 International Military Testing Association Conference in Pensacola, Florida (T. W.
Elig, Chair). This research was supported in part by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) through
the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, Contract. M67004-03-C-0006 and also
by NIMH grant # MH50791-08. The opinions in this paper are those of the authors and are not to be
construed as an official DMDC or Department of Defense position unless so designated by other authorized
documents. The authors wish to thank Louise F. Fitzgerald for her comments.
2 Survey measurement of sexual harassment is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as the presence of
behaviors indicative of sexual harassment (Crude/Offensive Behavior, Sexual Coercion, and Unwanted
Sexual Attention; Sexist Behavior and Sexual Assault are not counted in the DoD survey measure of sexual
harassment) and the labeling of those behaviors as sexual harassment (Survey Method for Counting Incidents
of Sexual Harassment, 2002). In this paper we examine behaviors indicative of sexual harassment and sexist
behavior and refer to them together as unprofessional, gender-related behavior (UGRB). We use the term
sexual harassment to refer to the existing literature.
219
45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003