Sexual Harassment

Law and psychology scholars have studied judgments of sexual harassment for several decades and have reported a number of findings that add to and draw from the literatures in social, clinical, and industrial organizational psychology. This entry discusses some of the more important variables such as sex of the observer, complainant, and alleged harasser; organizational structure; and individual differences in observers, complainants, and alleged harassers. While not all psychological studies of sexual harassment follow the contours of [Page 736]discrimination law, all the scientific literature eventually comes into contact with the law either as a starting point that shapes judgments of responsibility or as an ending point to address issues of discrimination. Therefore, it is helpful to organize the literature around the law.