Power and sex-based harassment among LGBQs

Abstract

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.