Why is sexual harassment offensive? The effects of privacy regulation on sexual harassment perception

Despite an extensive amount of legal cases and social science research on sexual harassment, there are still important questions that need to be answered. Many legal scholars and social scientists disagree about how it should be defined, why people perceive ambiguous, but potentially sexually harassing situations differently and why it is morally offensive. A review of the legal history of sexual harassment and social science research examining these questions is presented. It is suggested that sexual harassment is morally offensive because it violates an individual's right to privacy. A study was performed to provide support for this theory by testing the hypothesis that the ability to regulate privacy successfully affects the interpretations of ambiguous, but potentially sexually harassing behavior. Participants were divided into three privacy regulation groups (less than desired, as much as desired, and more than desired) on a discrepancy score measure for the privacy preferences of reserve and solitude. Participants' reactions to ambiguous, but potentially harassing situations that either interfered with control of personal information or infringed upon personal space were assessed. The hypothesis that females would perceive vignettes as more harassing was also tested. Results indicated that females perceived vignettes as more harassing than males and that the difference was even larger for the personal space intrusions than the personal information intrusions. Subsequent analyses indicated that for those who regulated solitude adequately, people who failed to obtain as much reserve as desired perceived the vignettes intruding on personal information as more harassing than those who regulated reserve adequately or obtained more reserve than desired. Also, effects were found supporting the hypothesis that privacy preference affects regulation and the interpretation of potentially harassing behaviors. One of the main implications of these results is that there could potentially be a hierarchy of privacy needs. People who fail to obtain their desired level of one privacy preference may not attenuate to invasions of other types of privacy. The results provide some limited support for the theory that sexual harassment is morally offensive because it violates privacy rights. Further study of privacy regulation and sexual harassment can provide future benefits for society.