Sexual harassment in the workplace: Exploring the effects of attractiveness on perception of harassment

This study was designed to explore the effect of attractiveness on perceptions of sexual harassment. Male and female college students (N = 150) rated four scenarios depicting ambiguous incidents of sexual harassment, each paired with photos of a male boss and a female secretary. Male and female attractiveness was varied in a 2 x 2 factorial design. Participants were asked to rate each photo on a series of traits before making harassment judgments. Overall, females perceived more harassment. The behavior of attractive males was less likely to be seen as harassing. Attractive females were more likely to be seen as harassed, especially when the potential harasser was unattractive. The possible mechanisms underlying the effects of attractiveness were explored with the results supporting a direct effect of stereotypes over a mediating role for implicit personality theories.