Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The data used in the research reported here were collected with the support of a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grant USPHS-MH-32606-01 to the second author. The authors gratefully acknowl.edge the assistance of Dale Berger, Pamela Cooper, and Allan Wicker in the preparation of this manuscript. We would also like to thank Gerald R. Salancik, Associate Editor of Administrative Science Quarterly, and the three anonymous ASQ reviewers for the contributions they made through the publication review process. The EEOC guidelines on sexual harassment place a great deal of importance on the recipient's evaluation of his or her experience. Research has consistently shown that women, more than men, consider sexual behavior at work to be sexual harassment. In this study, three theories are proposed to account for individuals' perceptions of sexual harassment. The first is that there is a basic difference between men and women in personal orientation toward sexual harassment and how they define it; the second is that differential sexual experiences at work account for differences in perceptions; and the third is that differences in perceptions are accounted for by gender-role spillover that is, when a job comes to be seen as primarily a man's or a woman's job the gender role spills over into the work role. Analysis of data from a representative sample of 1,232 working men and women in Los Angeles County showed some support for all three theories. The complementary contributions of the three theories and their implications for organizational behavior are discussed.*
Konrad et al. (Mon,) studied this question.