2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

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Determinants of Reporting
Research on the determinants of reporting sexual harassment has typically focused on a
combination of individual, stimulus (i.e., severity-related), and/or organizational variables.
Exploration of the organizational determinants of reporting behavior has examined the climate,
or tolerance, for sexual harassment in the organization. Organizations that do not pro-actively
discourage this problem, do not take reports of harassment seriously, do not discourage
retaliation, or that have inadequate or non-existent harassment policies and investigative
procedures are less likely to be told about the problems their employees may be having
(Offermann & Malamut, 2002; Fitzgerald et al., 1997; Brooks & Perot, 1991, Perry et al., 1997,
Malamut & Offermann, 2001: Bergman, Langhout, Palmieri, Cortina, & Fitzgerald, 2002).
Stimulus antecedents include variables specific to the incident of the harassment, such as
frequency, intensity, and duration, (Rudman, et al., 1995; Malamut & Offermann, 2001,
Bergman et al., 2002), whereas individual variables focus on demographic data such as age, race,
etc. (Perry et al., 1997; Brooks and Perot, 1991; Knapp, Faley, Ekeberg, & DuBois, 1997,
Rudman, et al., 1995, Malamut & Offermann, 2001, Bergman et al., 2002). Although each of
these determinants has been shown to affect reporting behavior, individual variables are typically
less influential than organizational and situational variables in the decision to report (Fitzgerald
et al., 1995).
While work on the determinants of reporting sexual harassment provides readers with
invaluable information this work has operated under a dichotomous model of reporting sexual
harassment. This research ignores the findings of Malamut et al., (2002) which suggests that
targets of sexual harassment do not rigidly respond to sexual harassment in such a black and
white manner. Instead it appears that these targets employ reporting strategies far less rigidly and
choose to report only some of the harassment they have experienced rather than all or none of it.
Thus, combining individuals who report only some of the harassment experience(s) with either
non-reporters or those who report all the harassment may confound our understanding of
reporting behavior. Additionally, analysis of sexual harassment litigation suggests that details of
the harassing experiences gradually emerge during the litigation process. This emersion of
details can be used to discredit complainants by suggesting that the complainant is fabricating
their description of the experience. A better understanding of reporting behavior could be utilized
to lend credibility to targets during litigation.
Further, while it is interesting to know which individual, stimulus, and organizational
variables impact reporting behavior it is arguably equally if not more important to understand
target’s reasons for not reporting sexual harassment. An examination of this type of data can
provide researchers and organizations with valuable information that could assist them in
effectively encouraging reporting. Enactment of these types of changes, based on target’s
responses, protect individuals from physical and psychological harm and also protect an
organizations investment in their employees by possibly increasing job satisfaction, decreasing
attrition, etc.
METHOD
Participants
This study utilized data from the Status of the Armed Forces Survey: Workplace and
Gender Relations 2002 (WGR 2002) collected by the Defense Manpower Data Center. The
45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003