Sexual harassment across the color line: Experiences and outcomes of cross-versus intraracial sexual harassment among Black women.

KC Woods, NT Buchanan, IH Settles - Cultural Diversity and Ethnic …, 2009 - psycnet.apa.org
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2009psycnet.apa.org
The current study examined differences in appraisal, harassment, and severity of
posttraumatic stress symptoms among 105 Black women who were sexually harassed by
either a White (cross-racial sexual harassment) or a Black man (intraracial sexual
harassment). Analyses revealed that women appraised cross-racial more negatively than
intraracial harassment, despite there being no significant differences in the likelihood of
experiencing gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, or sexual coercion. Further …
Abstract
The current study examined differences in appraisal, harassment, and severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms among 105 Black women who were sexually harassed by either a White (cross-racial sexual harassment) or a Black man (intraracial sexual harassment). Analyses revealed that women appraised cross-racial more negatively than intraracial harassment, despite there being no significant differences in the likelihood of experiencing gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, or sexual coercion. Further, cross-racial harassment was more likely to include racialized sexual harassment (harassing behaviors combining race and gender simultaneously) and higher status perpetrators. Finally, cross-racial sexual harassment had an indirect (but not direct) mediated effect on posttraumatic stress via participants' appraisals of their harassment. Specifically, the more negative appraisal associated with cross-racial sexual harassment was associated with increased posttraumatic stress symptoms. In light of these findings, consideration of perpetrator race and racially sexualized behaviors could prove significant additions to current models of sexual harassment.(PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
American Psychological Association