Dual effects of self-focused and other-focused power on sexual harassment intentions

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2018-0160
• Published date: 14 May 2019
• Pages: 17-37
• Date: 14 May 2019
• Author: Margaret S. Stockdale,Declan O. Gilmer,Tuyen K. Dinh
• Subject Matter: Hr & organizational behaviour,Employment law

Dual effects of self-focused and

other-focused power on sexual

harassment intentions

Margaret S. Stockdale

Department of Psychology,

Indiana University –Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Declan O. Gilmer

Department of Psychology,

University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, USA, and

Tuyen K. Dinh

Department of Psychology,

Indiana University –Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine two forms of power construal –self-focused and other-

focused power –on effects of increasing or decreasing sex-based harassment (SBH) tendencies through

feeling states triggered by imagining these different types of power. In addition, dispositional traits

associated with either self- and other-focused power were tested as moderators of these paths.

Design/methodology/approach –An online experiment was conducted with 549 US adults (58 percent

men) who were randomly assigned to imagine themselves with self-focused power, other-focused power or

control. Dispositional measures were completed before priming; and feelings of sexiness, powerfulness and

communalism were completed after priming. Then, participants completed either modified versions of Pryor’s

(1987) Likelihood to Sexually Harass Scale or Williams et al.’s (2017) Workplace Crush Scenario.

Findings –Moderated indirect effects indicated that self-focused power increased participants’feelings of

sexinessand powerfulness, which,in turn, increased eithermeasure of SBH. However,these indirect effectswere

only significant for individuals low in Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy).

Surprisingly, other-focused power primingindirectly increased SBH tendenciesthrough communal feelings.

Research limitations/implications –Moral licensing may explain the unexpected effect of other-focused

power on SBH. Organizational leaders should monitor the damaging effects of both forms of power.

Originality/value –This is the first study to examine how both negative and positive power construals

affect harassment tendencies and to document potential nefarious effects for both types of power.

Keywords Sexual harassment, Power, Dark Triad, Dominance, Agentic goal orientation,

Communal goal orientation

Paper type Research paper

You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful –I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet.

Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

(Donald Trump –transcript of Access Hollywood Tape, New York Times, October 7)

Since being named in the mid-1970s, there has been substantial research about the forms,

prevalence, antecedents and effects of sexual harassment (now sex-based harassment (SBH);

see Berdahl, 2007; e.g. McDonald, 2012; Willness et al., 2007). As exemplified by Donald

Trump’s bravado captured by the Access Hollywood Tape, power has been a central

organizing principle in understanding why, by whom and toward whom SBH is targeted

(e.g. MacKinnon, 1979; Uggen and Blackstone, 2004), and has catalyzed the current #MeToo

movement. SBH is understood to be perpetuated, tolerated and maintained by a socio-

cultural system that privileges men’s power over women (Uggen and Blackstone, 2004).

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 39 No. 1, 2020

pp. 17-37

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-09-2018-0160

Received 7 September 2018

Revised 21 December 2018

6 March 2019

12 March 2019

Accepted 14 March 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

17

Sexual

harassment

intentions

Conduct initiated by individuals in a more powerful position than the target(s) is perceived

(Stockdale, Vaux, and Cashin, 1995) and experienced (Settles et al., 2011) as more harassing

and more serious than similar behavior initiated by peers. Threats to initiators’status

(a form of power) create an impetus to harass (Berdahl, 2007; Maass et al., 2003). For men

with a proclivity to harass or sexually aggress, priming feelings of power heightens the

association with sex, and increases sexual attraction toward an attractive female

subordinate (Bargh et al., 1995).

Sources of power may arise from, among other things, roles (e.g. supervisors), control of

rewards, punishments or other valued resources, cultural values and physical strength. We

focus our lens on feelings of power and how it triggers cognitive, affective and behavioral

processes to produce SBH. Building on Kipnis’notion of the metamorphic effects of power

(Kipnis et al., 1976), in which feeling powerful exaggerates one’s self-view while diminishing

the view of others, our aim is to develop a theoretical framework that explains how the

possession of power enhances affective linkages that catalyzes SBH.

We also consider power as a potential source of doing good rather than just a source of

corruption. Specifically, feeling powerful may also increase feelings of responsibility for

subordinates and for enhancing the well-being of others (Winter, 1991). Responsibility-based

power motives have been characterized as ownership of one’s behavior, dependability,

impulse controland making moral judgments (Winter, 1991). Furthermore,responsibility and

caring for others is also at the heart of modern theories of effective leadership, including

servant leadershipand transformationalleadership (Eagly et al., 2003;van Dierendonck, 2011).

We propose that potential effects of responsibility-based power, which we refer to as “other-

focused power,”may mitigate the effects of power on proclivity to engage in SBH.

Following a brief theoretical overview of power, and a review of empirical studies of

power-related effects on harassing conduct or tendencies, we present a study testing the

effects of two types of power construal –self-focused and other-focused –on the likelihood

or reduction in Likelihood to Sexually Harass (LSH). We posit that whereas self-focused

power increases SBH tendencies through enhanced feelings of sexiness and powerfulness,

other-focused power decreases SBH tendencies through enhanced feelings of responsibility

and connectedness to others. We also examine moderators of these effects. Our conceptual

model is depicted in Figure 1 and discussed below.

Theoretical overview and hypotheses

Approach/inhibition theory (Keltner et al., 2003) focuses on the activation of underlying

cognitive, affective and behavioral mechanisms when individuals gain power (as well as the

• Dominance

Sexy-Powerful

Feelings

+

+

+

+

–

–

SBH

Communal

Feelings

•

Communal Goal

Orientation

Contrast 2: Other-

Focused vs Self-

Focused Power

Contrast 1: Control

vs Power Primes

• Dark Triad

• Agentic Goal

Orientation

Figure 1.

Hypothesized model

for the effects of

power priming (vs

control: Contrast 1)

and other-focused

power (vs self-focused

power: Contrast 2) on

SBH intentions,

mediated by sexy-

powerful feelings,

moderated by traits

and goal orientations

18

EDI

39,1