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Should I Confront Him? Men’s Reactions to Hypothetical Confrontations of Peer Sexual Harassment

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Abstract

This study investigated how men react to a hypothetical confrontation by a woman of a male sexual harasser. Participants were 250 male undergraduates from a Canadian university who read scenarios depicting sexual harassment that varied by type of harassment and style of confrontation. Findings suggest that men have more negative feelings and opinions of a female confronter, and would engage in more negative verbal behaviour if confronted about subtle versus overt harassment. Contrary to prediction, assertive/hostile confrontation styles were related to only limited negative reactions. Although this study found that men’s reported reactions were not markedly negative, we discuss the importance of these results for women in understanding what factors may increase the chance that men will react negatively.

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Acknowledgments

This article is based on the MA thesis research of the first author under the supervision of the second author. K. Saunders was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council MA scholarship. The authors wish to thank Dennis Jackson, PhD, and Anne Forrest, PhD, for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, N9B 3P4

    Kristin A. Saunders & Charlene Y. Senn

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  1. Kristin A. Saunders
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  2. Charlene Y. Senn
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Correspondence to Charlene Y. Senn.

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Saunders, K.A., Senn, C.Y. Should I Confront Him? Men’s Reactions to Hypothetical Confrontations of Peer Sexual Harassment. Sex Roles 61, 399–415 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9638-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9638-0

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