Sexual harassment intervention study challenges assumptions about race-based bystander reactions

Does the race of the victim influence how quickly people intervene to protect women from sexual harassment? Contrary to initial expectations suggesting that bystanders might have a higher threshold for intervening in sexual harassment cases involving Black women, new research provides evidence people tend to respond similarly regardless of race.

One study, out of three conducted, found that men were marginally quicker to intervene when witnessing a Black woman being sexually harassed, compared to when the harassment involved a White woman. The speed at which women chose to intervene did not vary based on the victim’s race. But in the remaining two studies, the participants’ reaction times to intervene were consistent, regardless of whether the harassment victim was Black or White. The research was published in PLOS One.

Sexual harassment is a form of unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that can occur in various settings, including the workplace, educational institutions, and public spaces. It encompasses a range of actions from verbal comments and suggestive gestures to physical advances and coercion. Sexual harassment creates a hostile and intimidating environment, impacting the victim’s well-being and job or academic performance. It is explicitly prohibited by law in many countries. Many organizations have policies in place to protect individuals and address this and other forms of harassment.

Research indicates that bystander behavior—actions taken by individuals not directly involved in the harassment—is the most critical factor in preventing or allowing sexual harassment. The organizational or social climate that tolerates and normalizes sexual harassment is the primary determinant of its prevalence within a specific group, organization, or location.

Statistics from the United States show that Black women are more frequently targeted by sexual harassment than White women. Between 2012 and 2016, Black women lodged sexual harassment complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at a rate three times higher than that of White, non-Hispanic women, per 100,000 female workers.

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In light of this, researchers Rebecca Schachtman and Cheryl R. Kaiser aimed to explore the relationship between race and perceptions of sexual harassment more thoroughly. They speculated that bystanders might possess a higher threshold for intervention when a Black woman is subjected to sexual harassment compared to a White woman in a similar scenario. Essentially, they posited that the harassment might need to be more severe for bystanders to step in if the victim is a Black woman, compared to when a White woman is the target. They conducted three experiments to test this theory.

The first experiment involved 297 adults with an average age of 41 years; 47% were women, and 78% identified as White. They were tasked with observing a “chat-based job interview” where a manager named Tom interviewed a candidate named Mary. The interview included a series of ten progressively more harassing comments and questions from Tom to Mary, interspersed with nine neutral remarks. Participants viewed Tom’s line followed by Mary’s response, continuing until they chose to intervene and stop the interview or until it concluded.

Participants were divided into two groups: in one group, Mary was depicted as a White woman; in the other, as a Black woman. Their task was to intervene if the interview became inappropriate. Post-interview, participants assessed the level of sexual harassment experienced by the candidate, the psychological harm they believed she suffered, and the appropriate consequences for the manager.

The second study replicated the first with a larger participant pool of 602 adults recruited via Prolific, aiming to detect subtler differences in response tendencies. Noting that many participants from the first study did not notice Mary’s race, modifications were made in the second study to ensure participants spent more time considering information about Mary. The third study duplicated the second study’s procedure but recruited participants via MTurk, involving 650 adults.

The first study’s results indicated that 97% of participants intervened at some point during the interview, with no significant difference between males and females in their timing of intervention. Participants did not perceive the Black Mary as being less harassed or harmed than the White Mary, nor were they more lenient towards the manager who harassed Mary when she was depicted as Black.

In the second study, a slight effect emerged, contrary to the researchers’ expectations: participants were slightly quicker to intervene when the Black woman (Mary) was harassed, compared to the White woman. Further analysis revealed that this variance in intervention threshold was male-driven, with female participants reacting similarly regardless of Mary’s race. Assessments of psychological harm, harassment intensity, and recommended consequences for the manager were not influenced by Mary’s race. In the third study, Mary’s race once again had no effect.

“When holding the targets’ attractiveness, femininity, masculinity, and sexual harassment constant, bystanders did not have a greater threshold for intervention in the Black vs. White woman’s sexual harassment. One interpretation of this null effect is that counter to evidence that Black women are neglected in responses to sexual harassment, and ultimately, in laws, policies, and broader feminist movements like #MeToo, the prototype bias may not shape bystander intervention,” the study authors concluded.

The study makes a notable contribution to understanding individual reactions to witnessing sexual harassment. However, it’s important to note that the harassment scenario presented was conducted via chat, indicating that the victim was not in immediate physical danger and could leave at will. The risk-free nature of intervention in this context might not reflect real-world scenarios where harassment occurs in person and intervention could pose a threat or have negative consequences for the intervenor.

The paper, “Bystanders’ thresholds for intervention in Black vs. White women’s sexual harassment,” was authored by Rebecca Schachtman and Cheryl R. Kaiser.