Reducing the Occurrence of Sexual Harassment: Investigating the Novel Approach of Empathy Training

Abstract

Sexual harassment remains prevalent, underscoring the urgent need for an updated approach to training aimed at reducing its occurrence. Previous studies have revealed that interventions focusing on elements of empathy, such as empathetic concern and perspective-taking, have been effective in diminishing antisocial attitudes like prejudice (Galinsky & Moskowitz, 2000; Levin et al., 2016; Paluck & Green, 2009). Thus, I suggest that cultivating empathy and perspective-taking may target the root cause of sexual harassment by disrupting the mechanisms that sustain its prevalence. The current study uses a 3 (training modality: Empathy Video Plus Exercises, Empathy Video, Control Video) × 2 (gender: Female and Male) between-subjects research design to investigate the effectiveness of empathy training, encompassing a ten-minute video and perspective-taking exercises, in fostering empathy toward targets of sexual harassment. The empathy video features a Ph.D. graduate student, "Diana," recounting her experiences with sexual harassment, based on a true story and portrayed by a professional actor. Participants engaged in perspective-taking exercises where they described the harassment experience from Diana's perspective and identified short and long-term consequences of experiencing sexual harassment. As anticipated, empathy training significantly increased feelings of empathy, aligning with the findings of Bolinger et al. (2023). Empathy training also significantly increased feelings of personal distress. This heightened feeling of empathy and personal distress subsequently bolstered intentions to engage in bystander intervention and supportive behaviors. However, empathy training did not yield a significant impact on reducing the acceptance of sexual harassment myths. Lastly, empathy training did not diminish intentions among men to engage in sex-based harassment. These findings underscore both the potential and limitations of empathy training in addressing attitudes and behaviors related to sexual harassment.