2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

less likely to indicate they had experienced sexist behaviors but more likely to endorse
experiencing sexual coercion.
Theoretically the results differentiating the Non-reporters from the Partial Reporters
make sense as one would expect a Non-reporter to experience less harassment than someone who
reports these behaviors. However, the comparison between the group of Complete Reporters and
the Partial Reporters is somewhat less clear. One might argue that sexual coercion is a more
severe form of harassment, owing to its inherently threatening nature, and therefore would be
more likely to lead to reporting and that sexist behavior, a more minor offense, would be less
likely to lead to such an end result. Yet it appears that it is sexist behavior, rather than sexual
coercion, that may have driven the group of Complete Reporters to report their harassment (see
Figure 1).
Sexist Behavior
● Non-Reporters < Partial Reporters < Complete Reporters
Sexual Coercion
● Non-Reporters < Partial Reporters > Complete Reporters
Figure 1. Female Confirmatory Three-Group Comparison of Significant Variables.
Frequency analysis of the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire reveals that Partial and
Complete Reporters equally endorse experiencing sexual coercion but the Partial Reporters
appear more likely to list that behavior as part of the one situation that had the greatest effect on
them. Therefore it does not appear that individuals in the Partial Reporting category have the
most severe experience of harassment. Hypotheses as to the cause of this result are difficult in
that the survey asked participants to indicate the behaviors they had experienced and did not ask
which behaviors they had reported. Assuming the Partial Reporters actually reported the sexual
coercion could lead to hypothesize that their experience of sexual coercion was so horrific as to
warrant reporting whereas other behaviors were viewed as minor incidents and went unreported.
An examination of the Multinomial Logistic Regression results for the male 3 group
confirmatory sample reveals similarly interesting results. When compared to Non-reporters it
appears that Partial Reporters are more likely to endorse experiencing more frequent harassment
and sexist behaviors (see figure 2).
Frequency
● Non-Reporters < Partial Reporters > Complete Reporters
Sexist Behavior
● Non-Reporters < Partial Reporters
Supervisor Harassment
● Partial Reporters < Complete Reporters
Figure 2. Male Confirmatory Three-Group Comparison of Significant Variables.
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45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003