2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

UNDERSTANDING RESPONSES TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE
U.S. MILITARY *
Angela K. Lawson
Louise F. Fitzgerald
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
603 East Daniel
Champaign, Illinois 61820
alawson@s.psych.uiuc.edu
INTRODUCTION
Research on sexual harassment prevalence confirms its presence in a wide variety of
organizational environments and finds it to be strongly associated with a number of negative
outcomes for both individuals and organizations (Fitzgerald, Drasgow, Hulin, Gelfand, &
Magley, 1997; Malamut & Offermann, 2001; McKinney, K. et al., 1998; U.S. Merit Systems
Protection Board, 1994). Work-place gender-ratio, gender stereotyping of jobs, and
organizational climate have all been linked to the prevalence of sexually harassing behaviors;
further, female employees in male-dominated work groups and/or organizations that appear to
tolerate sexually inappropriate behavior are more likely to be targets of harassment than are those
employed in more gender-balanced environments intolerant of sexual harassment (Fitzgerald et
al., 1997).
Whatever the context, employees rarely report such experiences to management
(Bergman et al., 2002; Marin & Guadagno, 1999). Marin and Guadagno (1999) suggest that such
non-reporting may be linked to non-labeling of the incident (as harassment), fear of retaliation,
or negative appraisals from supervisors and coworkers. Fitzgerald and Swan (1995) postulate
that reluctance to report may also arise from a belief that complaints would not be taken
seriously whereas Baker et al. (1990) implicate the organization’s perceived tolerance of
inappropriate behavior as an important influence. Additionally research suggests that the reasons
for not reporting can be grouped into two categories. The first being fear resulting from the
perceived risks inherent to the target’s occupational and personal well-being and the second
focusing more on issues associated with organizational policies and procedures associated with
reporting sexual harassment (Peirce, Rosen, & Hiller, 1997).
* Paper presented at the 2003 IMTA Conference, Pensacola, Florida.
This research is funded by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), through the
Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, Contract, M67004-03-C-0006
as well as the National Institute of Mental Health grant #MH50791-08. The opinions of this
paper are those of the authors and are not to be construed as official DMDC or Department of
Defense position unless so designated by other authorized documents.
Please do not cite or quote without permission. Correspondence should be addressed to Angela
K. Lawson, 603 E. Daniel, Champaign, IL 61820 or alawson@s.psych.uiuc.edu.
237
45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003