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Bystander intervention is a powerful response to sexual harassment that reduces victims’ burden to respond. However, gender prototypes depicting sexual harassment victims as prototypical women (i.e., stereotypically feminine) may hinder intervention when harassment targets women who deviate from this prototype. Across four preregistered experiments (N= 1,270 Americans), we test whether bystanders intervene less readily in nonprototypical (vs. prototypical) women’s sexual harassment. Participants observed a man manager ask a series of increasingly sexually harassing job interview questions toward either a gender prototypical or nonprototypical woman by traits (Studies 1–3) or gender identity (Study 4). Participants were instructed to intervene to stop the interview if/when they judged the questions as inappropriate. A meta-analysis revealed participants had a greater threshold for intervention when harassment targeted a nonprototypical (vs. prototypical) woman—a small but meaningful effect. Efforts to foster bystander intervention in sexual harassment would benefit by recognizing this neglect of nonprototypical women.
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Perceived social influence of allied men drives their ability to communicate respect to women in male-dominated fields
Three studies ( N = 1,349) examined why allyship from men (vs. women) is often more impactful in decreasing women’s concerns of negative treatment within male-dominated spaces in the United States. Women anticipated more respect from their peers after a man (vs. woman), identified as a gender equality ally. Increased respect mediated women’s lower anticipation of negative workplace treatment and higher anticipation of support (Studies 1–3). This effect was driven by the belief that an allied man holds more influence within an organization than an allied woman (Study 2). Study 2 additionally contrasted allyship to workplace friendship to determine the unique impact of gender-equality allyship compared to other forms of support from peers. In Study 3, ally influence was manipulated to assess whether an ally’s ability to communicate respect to women is contingent upon perceived influence. These results indicate that the positive impact of allyship from men is due in part to the greater perceived influence of allied men and their ability to communicate respect to women.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2313797
- PAR ID:
- 10515403
- Publisher / Repository:
- SAGE Publications
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
- Volume:
- 28
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1368-4302
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 186-207
- Size(s):
- p. 186-207
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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