Sexual Harassment and Hierarchical Workplace Relationships After #MeToo: Consequences for Women Subordinates

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Chloe Grace Hart, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Heather McLaughlin, Oklahoma State University

Version:  View help for Version V1

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Project Citation: 

Hart, Chloe Grace, and McLaughlin, Heather. Sexual Harassment and Hierarchical Workplace Relationships After #MeToo: Consequences for Women Subordinates. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-09-13. https://doi.org/10.3886/E209095V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary
The #MeToo Movement illustrated how higher-ups may abuse their power by engaging in sexual harassment, and generated heightened concern about hierarchical workplace romantic relationships. In a survey experiment, we test whether sexual attention from a superordinate outside one’s reporting chain (desired or not) leads to stereotyping and resultant career penalties. A woman employee who reported sexual harassment was seen as less warm and more attention-seeking and cutthroat, but also more assertive and willing to speak truth to power – although some perceptions varied by the harassment type. A woman who declared a romantic relationship with a superordinate was viewed as less committed to the organization. This stereotyping did not translate to workplace penalties apart from a marginally significant raise penalty against the woman who reported unwanted sexual advances. However, we find that experiencing sexual attention from a superordinate – whether desired or not – is damaging to working women’s reputations.  

Keywords: sexual harassment, hierarchical workplace relationships, stereotyping, #MeToo, reputational costs

Scope of Project

Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2020 – 2020
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 2020 – 2020


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Published Versions

V1 [2024-09-13]

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