Peggy Stockdale
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Gender Issues in the Workplace: When “good people” harass. Why they do it and why we let them.
Dr. Peggy Stockdale is the director of the Women in Work (WoW) Laboratory at IUPUI. Dr. Stockdale along with her team of researchers conduct and disseminate research on gender issues in the workplace. The main goal is to address and eliminate sexism in how women and men are treated in the workplace, schools, and other places. People have a right to be treated with dignity and respect. One of the research projects in the WoW Lab seeks to explain why “good people” are prone to sexual harassment, and why society tends to let these offenders off the hook.
-Why do we morally license ourselves and others to sexually harass?
Using research to make a positive impact in the world, Dr. Stockdale has helped numerous organizations develop or improve their policies on sexual harassment, eliminate the conditions that allow harassment to occur, and create effective procedures to address sexual harassment investigations.
Dr. Stockdale’s translation of research into understanding the causes of sexual harassment and other forms of sexism/discrimination in order to build effective tools and processes to address and eliminate the issues is another excellent example of how IUPUI’s faculty members are TRANSLATING their RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.
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Recent Submissions
Item Power and sex-based harassment among LGBQs(2022-01-01) Dinh, Tuyen K.; Stockdale, Margaret S.Abstract Much of the sex-based harassment (SBH) literature to date focuses on the experiences of heterosexual White women (Brassel et al., 2020). Hence, researchers attempting to understand the motivation of perpetrators of such incidences are often from heterosexual samples, where men harass women to maintain or gain power (e.g., Berdahl, 2007). This leads to the absence of perspectives from historically oppressed groups, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ) identifying persons. In this paper, we seek to further understand whether power, which is often conceptualized as a key antecedent to sex-based harassment, is also a motivating factor among LGBQ persons. The purpose of this study was to examine two forms of power (egocentric vs responsibility) on increasing sex-based harassment tendencies through feeling states evoked by their respective power types. Results indicate that power effects sex-based harassment tendencies in similar ways as found in heterosexual samples. Specifically, egocentric and responsibility focused power increased SBH through sexy-powerful feelings, moderated by trait dominance, and responsibility-focused power increased SBH through communal feelings. These data provide support for generalizing a theory of SBH intentions to LGBQ populations and we provide recommendations for HR managers.Item The Sex-Based Harassment Inventory: A Gender Status Threat Measure of Sex-Based Harassment Intentions(Springer, 2022-05-30) Grabowski, Matthew; Dinh, Tuyen K.; Wu, Wei; Stockdale, Margaret S.We introduce a new inventory measuring sex-based harassment intentions and threat perceptions grounded in gender status threat theories (Berdahl, 2007; Stephan et al., 2016). In Study 1 (N = 568 men), an initial Sex-Based Harassment Inventory (SBHI) was developed with 12 scenarios depicting gender status threats to which respondents rated the likelihood to engage in gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, supportive conduct, and their perceptions of threat. The final version of the SBHI contained six scenarios with four items each. Gender harassment and unwanted sexual attention intentions loaded on a single, reliable factor, labeled harassment intentions. Two other factors measured threat perceptions and supportive behavior intentions. harassment intentions correlated significantly with threat perceptions, likelihood to sexually harass (Pryor, 1987), hostile and benevolent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996), and masculine identification (Glick et al., 2015). In Study 2 (N = 391 men), a non-threat version of the SBHI was compared to the threat version. Threat perceptions mediated the effect of scenario version on harassment intentions, which was stronger at moderate to high levels of hostile sexism and social dominance orientation. Thus, the final version of the SBHI presents promising initial evidence linking sex-based harassment intentions to gender status threat, consistent with Berdahl’s (2007) theory.Item When “Good People” Sexually Harass: The Role of Power and Moral Licensing on Sexual Harassment Perceptions and Intentions(Springer, 2022-06-01) Dinh, Tuyen K.; Mikalouski, Laurel; Stockdale, Margaret S.History has shown that people who embody responsibility-focused power have been credibly accused of sexual harassment. Drawing from power-approach and moral licensing theories, we present two complementary studies examining how responsibility-focused power triggers moral licensing, which, in turn, decreases perceptions of sexual harassment (Study 1) and increases intentions to engage in sexual harassment (Study 2). In Study 1, 365 participants read a scenario of a man embodying responsibility-focused power, self-focused power, or low power (control) and then read a case about the man’s alleged sexual harassment against a subordinate. Findings illustrated that moral crediting mediated the effect of power construal on false accusation judgments. In Study 2, 250 participants were primed to experience responsibility-focused power or low power. Responsibility-focused power increased sexual harassment intentions through effects on communal feelings and moral crediting. Based on these findings, we develop a new theoretical perspective on why sexual harassment occurs and why people deny perceiving it. We provide practical recommendations to organizational leaders for developing interventions, such as training, that may disrupt effects of power and moral licensing on sexual harassment intentions, and we encourage public discourse on the harms of harassment that supposed “good people” commit.Item Patchwork Protections: Progress and Problems in Battling Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Employment(Industrial Organizational Psychologist, 2008) Stockdale, Margaret S.Item Japanese International Students' Attitudes toward Acquaintance Rape(Institute of Education Services, 2001-08) Motoike, Janice; Stockdale, Margaret S.This study looked at the influence of an Asian sociocultural variable, loss of face or social integrity, as a predictor of perceptions of acquaintance rape among Japanese students. In addition to the expected associations between gender, sexism, and perceptions of rape, loss of face was predicted to interact with the perpetrator's reference group such that an aggression-enhancing reference group would reduce, and an aggression-inhibiting reference group would heighten perceptions of rape in a given scenario. Surveys were distributed to Japanese students in linguistics classes and Japanese student associations at various Midwestern universities. The results support gender differences in attitudes toward women and attitudes toward rape victims. The loss of face by reference group interaction was not a significant predictor of the participants' own victim blaming or attitudes toward rape victims, but it was a significant predictor of perception of perpetrator blame in the expected direction. Examining cultural factors may provide insight into developing preventive measures against acquaintance rape and appropriate orientations for Japanese international students. (Contains 3 tables and 10 references.) (JDM)Item Evaluation of a Comprehensive Tobacco Cessation Curriculum for Dental Hygiene Programs(Journal of Dental Education, 2010-05-01) Davis, Joan M.; Stockdale, Margaret S.; Cropper, M.Dental health care providers continue to offer inconsistent and limited tobacco use cessation (TUC) interventions even though smoking‐related morbidity and mortality continue to be a substantial health concern. Our purpose was to conduct a comprehensive, three‐year (2003–06) TUC curriculum evaluation that included assessment of existing TUC education offered; dental hygiene educators’ readiness to incorporate TUC education into the curriculum; and development of a pre‐test/post‐test assessment instrument and faculty development program. This curriculum study was carried out alongside a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer‐reviewed tobacco curriculum (Tobacco Free! Curriculum). Faculty members (baseline n=97; third‐year n=42) from the twelve dental hygiene associate degree programs in Illinois participated in the study, which included a pre‐treatment survey, six hours of on‐site TUC curriculum training, and a post‐treatment survey to determine the attitudes, perceived barriers, and current practices in tobacco education. Results showed an average increase of eighty‐five minutes spent on tobacco education in the dental hygiene curriculum, a large positive increase in the percentage of faculty members who formally assessed the use of 5As and 5Rs (21 percent to 88 percent), and a dramatic increase (+100) in the percentage of faculty members who taught or included most of the thirteen TUC content areas following the introduction of the curriculum and training program.Item The Need for Tobacco Education: Studies of Collegiate Dental Hygiene Patients and Faculty.(Journal of Dental Education, 2005-12-01) Davis, J.M.; Stockdale, Margaret S.; Cropper, M.The need for inclusion of comprehensive tobacco control education/training for health care providers continues to be stressed in publications addressing cessation services. The dental appointment presents an excellent opportunity to provide tobacco interventions to basically healthy people on regular intervals. The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to assess the need (stage of change and concomitant need for tobacco cessation intervention) of dental hygiene patients at a Midwest dental hygiene clinic, and 2) to assess and compare the level of tobacco intervention education currently being offered by dental hygiene educators in a Midwestern state. Patients (n=426) of a collegiate dental health clinic completed a survey that assessed the level and type of tobacco cessation intervention patients might require. A statewide sample of dental hygiene faculty (n=97) were surveyed to determine the attitudes, perceived barriers, and current practices in tobacco education offered in their programs. Of patients who currently smoked (34.5 percent), 24.7 percent indicated being in the Action stage of change; 14.2 percent were in Preparation; 22.2 percent were in Contemplation; and 29 percent were in Precontemplation. Although faculty indicated tobacco education was very important (5.03 on 1–6 scale), they felt only moderately confident delivering tobacco education (3.18 on a 1–5 scale). Only 16 percent to 35 percent of faculty reported that their curriculum included brief motivational interviewing, pharmacotherapies, or setting‐up a private practice tobacco control program. The results strongly suggest the need for a comprehensive, competency‐based tobacco curriculum to enhance and expand existing dental hygiene programs.Item Situating Sexual Harassment in the Broader Context of Interpersonal Violence: Research, Theory, and Policy Implications(Social Issues and Policy Review, 2012-03-05) Stockdale, Margaret S.; Nadler, Joel T.Although sexual harassment has been discussed as a form of interpersonal violence, little research has systematically examined both the empirical and theoretical links between sexual harassment and interpersonal violence. We review survey research data that establishes sexual harassment as a form of revictimization from earlier instances of interpersonal violence, such as child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence as well as ways that sexual harassment and interpersonal violence can mutually co‐occur, such as from dissolved workplace romances or as an escalation from one form of violence to another. Bronfrenbrenner's and Grauerholz's ecological frameworks for understanding interpersonal violence and revictimization from several levels of analysis are invoked to understand the many ways that sexual harassment and interpersonal violence are linked. We further discuss organizational theories of sexual harassment and Routine Activities Theory as frameworks for guiding research in these areas. The review pays particular attention to surveys of multiple forms of sexual victimization, including sexual harassment, documented by the U.S. Military as well as the Military's efforts to comprehensively address these problems.Item Beyond Representation of Women in I-O to Producing Gender-Inclusive Knowledge(Cambridge, 2018-09) Stockdale, Margaret S.; Eagly, Alice H.; Psychology, School of ScienceGardner, Ryan, and Snoeyink (2018) provided an excellent and much-needed analysis of the status of women in industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology. Although others have produced overall assessments of the status of women in psychology (Eagly & Riger, 2014; Kite et al., 2001), these are not sufficient to identify conditions within the subfields of psychology. As shown by statistics on the divisions of the American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/about/division/officers/services/profiles.aspx), the subfields differ greatly in their gender balance, with some being male dominated (e.g., experimental and cognitive science), others female dominated (e.g., developmental psychology), and still others representing women and men more equally (e.g., social and personality psychology). I-O psychology is among the more gender-balanced fields, with an increasing proportion of women over time. It would seem that I-O's gradual inclusion of more women should have changed aspects of research and discourse in this field. In this comment, we argue that these women have produced impressive changes.Item Culture and support for workplace flexibility matter: An ecological framework for understanding flexibility support structures(Elsevier, 2019-04-28) Smith, Ellen F.; Gilmer, Declan O.; Stockdale, Margaret S.Firms use flexible work arrangements (FWAs) to attract, retain, and satisfy human resource capital, while workers use them to manage work and nonwork demands and to reduce stress and conflict. Yet, even when firms have such policies on the books, employees often do not use them because they perceive a lack of support from their organization or their supervisor. Employees may even feel that they will be stigmatized for using such policies. Using an ecological framework, we examine factors that influence support for FWAs at multiple levels: the organization or business unit, the supervisor or work group, and the individual. We offer recommendations to address the mechanisms that affect FWA support at these levels of analyses and present ways organizational leaders may positively influence a work environment by supporting workplace flexibility.