New study sheds light on a hidden barrier stopping men from stopping sexual harassment

When societal expectations shift to suggest men are adopting traits historically associated with women, men who cling to traditional gender ideals become less likely to step in and stop workplace sexual harassment. These perceived changes can trigger defensive reactions that suppress a person’s intention to help targets of harassment. The research was published in Sex Roles.

Harassment is a widespread issue in professional environments. To counter it, organizations often rely on bystander intervention. Bystanders are individuals who witness harassment and have the choice to either step in or remain passive.

The likelihood of someone intervening depends strongly on their gender. Men are routinely less likely to help targets of harassment than women are. This hesitation is strongly tied to societal ideas about masculinity.

Traditional masculine ideals often demand dominance, emotional restraint, and the rejection of vulnerability. One core part of this ideology is the antifemininity norm. This norm dictates that men should actively avoid behaviors or traits perceived as feminine, such as deep empathy or nurturing others.

Checking in on a colleague or reporting bad behavior requires moral concern and emotional engagement. As a result, sticking strictly to the antifemininity norm creates a major barrier to prosocial actions like bystander intervention.

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However, social expectations surrounding gender continually change. Modern men are increasingly taking on caregiving roles and expressing their emotions openly. Giulia Valsecchi, a psychology researcher at the University of Geneva, wanted to know how these shifting expectations influence the way men react to harassment.

Valsecchi conducted the research alongside University of Geneva colleagues Vincenzo Iacoviello and Juan Manuel Falomir-Pichastor. The team considered two conflicting psychological theories to explain male behavior.

One perspective, known as social role theory, suggests that as men take on more communal roles, they will naturally adopt the empathetic traits required to be active bystanders. In this scenario, witnessing men become more feminine might encourage others to conform and offer help.

Alternatively, precarious manhood theory suggests that masculinity is a fragile status that must be constantly defended. When traditional boundaries between men and women start to blur, men might perceive a threat to their identity. Under this theory, suggesting that men are becoming more feminine might trigger defensive reactions. Men might double down on traditional ideals, making them less willing to intervene.

To find out which theory held true, the researchers set up three distinct experiments. The first study involved 244 heterosexual men living in the United Kingdom. First, the participants answered questions designed to measure how strongly they endorsed the antifemininity norm. High scores indicated a strong belief that boys should play with trucks rather than dolls or that men should watch sports rather than soap operas.

Next, the researchers split the men into two groups to read a brief article. One group read a piece claiming that men are becoming more feminine over time and that the line between genders is disappearing. The second group read an article claiming that men are as masculine as ever and that the distinction between genders remains rigid.

The participants then read a hypothetical scenario set in a hospital. In the vignette, a male boss continuously asks a female colleague on a date despite her visible discomfort. The boss eventually tells her that he will not fire her over the rejection.

Participants had to rate whether they thought the event was harassment. They also rated their willingness to intervene using several options. They could report the event to human resources or confront the boss directly. They could also take softer approaches, like asking the targeted colleague if she wanted to talk, or they could simply pretend they saw nothing.

The results supported the idea of precarious manhood. Men who strongly believed in avoiding femininity were less willing to act when they read the article about men becoming more feminine.

Reading that gender norms were shifting triggered a defensive response in these participants, rather than encouraging empathy. The data also showed that strict adherence to the antifemininity norm impaired a person’s ability to even recognize the scenario as harassment.

The second study involved 217 American men. Instead of just measuring their existing beliefs, the team tried to momentarily alter how the men felt about their own gender presentation. To do this, the investigators gave the participants a fake personality test. The test asked them to evaluate themselves on traits like independence or nurturing behavior.

The researchers then assigned random scores to the participants. Half were told they had a highly masculine personality. The other half were told their personality was predominately feminine.

Earning a feminine score was meant to threaten their sense of masculinity. The participants then read the same articles about society either changing or staying the same, followed by the hospital scenario.

The results regarding a person’s willingness to intervene were not statistically significant in this second group. The statistical analysis fell short of conventional thresholds. Yet the data did reveal patterns related to the fake personality test. Men whose masculinity was threatened by the feminine personality score were much less likely to recognize the hospital scenario as sexual harassment.

The third experiment included 153 men located in Switzerland and other parts of Western Europe. The researchers wanted to see if changing gender norms caused men to actually justify bad behavior.

Recognizing a situation as harassment is different from evaluating it morally. Sometimes people recognize an action is wrong but still attempt to legitimize it by blaming the victim.

The researchers used the same reading exercise comparing shifting modern norms against strict traditional ones. They asked participants if they felt sympathy for the boss because modern women say no too often. They also asked if the participants felt men were unfairly perceived as harassers simply for flirting.

The experimental manipulation affected how participants judged the harasser’s behavior. Men who strongly avoided femininity were much more likely to legitimize the harassment if they were exposed to the article claiming men are becoming more feminine. Feeling defensive about shifting societal expectations directly altered their moral evaluations of the workplace behavior.

To make sense of the full project, the researchers combined the data from all three studies into a single analysis. Pooling the data increases statistical reliability. It allows scientists to identify consistent patterns across multiple groups of people.

The combined data showed a highly consistent pattern across different geographies. When men who strongly hold traditional gender beliefs perceive that men as a whole are becoming more feminine, their willingness to act as a bystander decreases. The researchers labeled this a resistance dynamic.

The opposite idea, known as a conformity dynamic, did not happen. Men who did not hold strict gender beliefs maintained a steady willingness to intervene regardless of the articles they read. Because they were not invested in strict gender roles, the articles did not trigger any defensive reactions that would alter their intent to help.

The researchers noted a few limitations to the experimental design. The studies relied on how people think they would act in a hypothetical situation. In real life, people often overestimate their own moral courage. Actual responses to emotionally charged events can differ wildly from responses on a digital survey.

The written scenario also involved a boss and a subordinate. This specific power dynamic might have influenced the answers. Employees are routinely hesitant to intervene against direct superiors to avoid retaliation. Testing different situations in the future could offer a better picture of bystander behavior.

The participants across all three studies were also predominately white. Race and ethnicity often shape how people perceive sexual violence. Testing more diverse groups would help ensure the results apply to the broader population.

Future investigations could observe actual behavior in real-world settings rather than relying on written responses. The research team suggested that organizations design prevention programs that specifically address deep-seated beliefs about masculinity.

Training should move past strict legal definitions to focus on the cultural behaviors that enable harassment in the first place. Clinicians might use these insights when working with men who struggle with interpersonal boundaries. Human resources departments should understand that strictly following procedural rules is not enough. Policies need to challenge the types of emotional restraint and dominance that keep employees from helping one another.

The study, “Evolving Masculinity Norms Shape Men’s Willingness to Intervene in Workplace Sexual Harassment,” was authored by Giulia Valsecchi, Vincenzo Iacoviello, and Juan Manuel Falomir-Pichastor.