THE EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS

We explore the value of theory developed in the field of evolutionary psychology for predicting and explaining patterns of sociosexual interaction between men and women in the workplace. In particular, we focus on assessing the value of this theoretical framework for increasing our understanding of the behavioral phenomenon of sexual harassment in organizations. To do this, we develop hypotheses based on a consideration of the evolved psychological mechanisms which have been proposed by evolutionary psychologists to underly human sexual behavior. We then review the existing literature on sociosexual behavior and sexual harassment within the workplace as a preliminary test of predictions concerning the expected profile, reaction, and motivation of recipients and initiators of sexual advances in the workplace. We also analyze the expected effect of novel aspects of the organizational environment on overt sexual behavior. This theory predicts, for example, that most sexual harassment will be initiated by men, and that young, single women will be the most frequent victims. This theory also predicts that women will generally experience a more negative reaction than men to sexual advances in the workplace, but that this emotional response will be mediated by other factors such as the profile of the initiator. The available data generally confirm these and other related predictions. Moreover, these results are quite consistent with other studies of the evolutionary psychology of human sexuality. We discuss the implications for theory in this area, and suggest some potentially fruitful avenues for original empirical research on human sexual behavior, inside or outside the workplace.