“Ah! But they are such a good worker!”: how perceptions of worker performance affects third-party response to sexual harassment

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to understand whether the relationship between perceived workplace performance and reactions toward sexual harassment (SH) differ for a man (wrongdoer) and woman (target). Design/methodology/approach We analyzed data from 320 survey respondents and used multiple regression to test hypotheses about the labeling of and reaction to workplace wrongdoing by a man toward a woman. Findings The higher a man’s perceived job performance, the less likely an observer is to label his wrongdoing toward a woman as harassment, the less likely they are to advise her to file a harassment claim and the more likely they are to perceive the woman’s decision to file a claim as an overreaction. Perceptions of a woman’s job performance are positively associated with the likelihood an observer sees her as an SH victim and the likelihood of advising her to file a claim. The higher her perceived job performance, the lower the likelihood of viewing her claim as an overreaction. Practical implications If employers want to use bystander reports to lower SH, they must teach workers how to recognize and respond fairly to it. Social implications Reactions to SH are contingent upon perceived job performance in ways that could reduce the effectiveness of bystander interventions to stop harassment. Originality/value We are one of the first to analyze how third-party observers’ perceptions of a man’s and woman’s job performance relate to their labeling of a man’s wrongdoing toward a woman as SH and responses to the wrongdoing.