EFFECTS OF WORKPLACE ETHNIC AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT

University Of Texas El Paso, El Paso TX

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): This set of studies will examine the mental health, physiological, and job-related effects of ethnic and sexual harassment, the antecedents of ethnic harassment, the ways in which employees cope with harassment, and the longitudinal effects of these job stressors. In Study 1, an organizational setting with multiple sites should provide a large sample of ethnic minority employees (i.e., Hispanics); a group that has been generally neglected in the job stress and harassment areas. Employees will complete surveys designed to assess their job attitudes, job behaviors, psychological well-being, health symptoms, and ethnic and sexual harassment experiences. Study 2 will involve individual interviews with a subsample of these organizational employees. Male and female non-harassed and harassed employees will be interviewed about their coping responses to instances of harassment (employees who have not experienced harassment will be asked about coping with general job stress). Study 3 will investigate experimentally the physiological responses of exposure to derogatory ethnic and sexist comments. Past research indicated that female participants exposed to a sexist comment from a co-worker showed greater physiological reactivity during the harassment and subsequent interactions, but there is limited evidence of the physiological effects of experiencing ethnic harassment or multiple harassment stressors. Study 4 will involve a longitudinal assessment of study 1 employees two years after the initial survey. Participants will be asked about their ethnic and sexual harassment experiences since the earlier survey. Longitudinal changes in mental health, job attitudes and behavior, and health symptoms will be assessed with a particular emphasis on groups of employees who were not harassed at Time 1 (fall 1999) but had experienced harassment by Time 2 (Fall 2001).