Moderating effect of equal opportunity support and confidence in grievance procedures on sexual harassment from different perpetrators

M. Sandy Hershcovis*, Tara Reich, Sharon Parker

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study drew on three theoretical perspectives – attribution theory, power, and role identity theory – to compare the job-related outcomes of sexual harassment from organizational insiders (i.e., supervisors and co-workers) and organizational outsiders (i.e., offenders and members of the public) in a sample (n = 482) of UK police officers and police support staff. Results showed that sexual harassment from insiders was related to higher intentions to quit, over-performance demands, and lower job satisfaction, whereas sexual harassment from outsiders was not significantly related to any of the outcome variables investigated. We also examined two moderator variables: equal opportunity support and confidence in grievance procedures. Consistent with our hypotheses, equal opportunity support mitigated the effects of sexual harassment from supervisors on intent to quit and over-performance demands. Confidence in grievance procedures moderated the relationship between sexual harassment from supervisors and all outcome variables. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)415–432
Number of pages18
JournalJOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS
Volume92
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

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