When society’s expectations change that men are adopting characteristics historically associated with women, men who cling to traditional gender ideals are less likely to intervene and try to stop sexual harassment in the workplace. These perceived changes can trigger defensive responses that suppress a person’s intentions to help the target of harassment. The study was published in the journal Sex Roles.
Harassment is a widespread problem in professional settings. To combat this, organizations often rely on bystander intervention. Bystanders are individuals who witness harassment and can choose to intervene or remain passive.
The likelihood of someone intervening depends largely on the person’s gender. Men are typically less likely than women to help targets of harassment. This hesitation is strongly tied to societal ideas about masculinity.
Traditional masculine ideals often demand dominance, suppression of emotions, and rejection of weakness. One of the core parts of this ideology is anti-feminine norms. This norm stipulates that men should actively avoid behaviors and traits that are considered feminine, such as deep empathy and nurturing of others.
Checking on a colleague or reporting bad behavior requires moral consideration and emotional involvement. As a result, strictly adhering to anti-femininity norms creates significant barriers to prosocial behavior such as bystander intervention.
However, societal expectations surrounding gender are constantly changing. Modern men are increasingly taking on caregiving roles and openly expressing their feelings. Julia Valsecchi, a psychology researcher at the University of Geneva, wanted to see how these changes in expectations affect how men respond to harassment.
Valsecchi carried out the study with colleagues Vincenzo Iacoviello and Juan Manuel Falomir Picaster from the University of Geneva. The research team considered two competing psychological theories to explain the men’s behavior.
One perspective, known as social role theory, suggests that as men take on more communal roles, they will naturally develop the empathic traits needed to be active bystanders. In this scenario, witnessing a man becoming more feminine may encourage others to follow suit and seek help.
Alternatively, theories of precarious masculinity suggest that masculinity is a vulnerable status that must always be protected. As traditional boundaries between men and women begin to blur, men may feel a threat to their identity. According to this theory, suggesting that a man is becoming more feminine can trigger a defensive response. Men may redouble traditional ideals and become reluctant to intervene.
To find out which theory was true, the researchers set up three different experiments. The first study involved 244 heterosexual men living in the UK. First, participants answered questions designed to measure how strongly they endorsed anti-feminine gender norms. A high score indicates a strong belief that boys should play with trucks rather than dolls, or that men should watch sports rather than soap operas.
The researchers then divided the men into two groups and read a short paper. One group read out a text claiming that men are becoming more feminine over time and that gender boundaries are disappearing. The second group read articles that argued that men are still masculine and that gender distinctions are still rigid.
Participants then read a hypothetical scenario set in a hospital. In the scene shot, a male boss continues to ask a female colleague out on a date despite his obvious discomfort. Her boss ultimately told her he would not fire her for her refusal.
Participants had to rate whether they thought the event was harassment. They also assessed their willingness to intervene using several options. They can report the incident to human resources or confront their supervisor directly. You can also take a softer approach, such as asking the targeted co-worker if they would like to talk, or simply pretending you didn’t see anything.
The results supported the idea that men’s positions as men are unstable. Men who strongly believed in avoiding femininity were less motivated to act even when they read about men becoming more feminine.
Reading about changing gender norms elicited defensive reactions in participants rather than encouraging empathy. The data also showed that strict adherence to anti-female gender norms impaired one’s ability to even recognize a scenario as harassment.
The second study involved 217 American men. Rather than simply measuring men’s pre-existing beliefs, the researchers sought to momentarily change how men felt about their gender expression. To do this, researchers administered a fake personality test to participants. The test asked people to rate themselves on traits such as independence and nurturing behavior.
The researchers then assigned random scores to the participants. Half were said to have a very masculine personality. The other half were said to be primarily feminine in personality.
Scoring feminine meant threatening their sense of masculinity. Next, participants read the same article about social change or change, followed by a hospital scenario.
In this second group, the results regarding people’s willingness to intervene were not statistically significant. Statistical analysis fell below conventional thresholds. Still, the data revealed a pattern associated with fake personality tests. Men whose masculinity was threatened by feminine personality scores were much less likely to perceive the hospital scenario as sexual harassment.
The third experiment involved 153 men living in Switzerland and other parts of Western Europe. The researchers wanted to see whether changing gender norms actually caused men to justify their bad behavior.
Recognizing a situation as harassment is different from evaluating it morally. Sometimes people recognize that an action is wrong but try to justify it by blaming the victim.
The researchers used the same reading exercise comparing changing modern norms to strict traditional norms. They asked participants whether they felt sorry for their bosses because modern women too often say no. Participants were also asked whether they felt that men were unfairly perceived as harassers just because they were flirting.
The experimental manipulation influenced how participants judged the harasser’s behavior. Men who strongly avoided femininity were much more likely to justify harassment when exposed to articles claiming that men were becoming more feminine. Feelings of defensiveness in response to changes in social expectations directly altered moral evaluations of workplace behavior.
To understand the project as a whole, the researchers combined data from all three studies into one analysis. Pooling data increases statistical reliability. This allows scientists to identify consistent patterns across multiple groups of people.
The combined data showed very consistent patterns across different regions. When men with strong traditional gender views perceive that men as a whole are becoming more feminine, they are less willing to act on the sidelines. Researchers have named this resistance dynamics.
The opposite idea, known as adaptation dynamics, did not occur. Men without strict gender beliefs maintained a stable willingness to intervene regardless of the articles they read. Because they were not invested in strict gender roles, the article did not provoke a defensive response that changed their intention to help them.
The researchers noted that the experimental design had several limitations. The research was based on how people think they would behave in hypothetical situations. In real life, people often overestimate their own moral courage. Actual reactions to emotionally charged events can be very different from responses in digital surveys.
The written scenario also included superiors and subordinates. This particular dynamic may have influenced the answer. Employees routinely shy away from intervening with their immediate supervisors to avoid retaliation. Testing different situations in the future may provide a more accurate picture of bystander behavior.
Participants in all three studies were also predominantly white. Race and ethnicity often shape how people perceive sexual violence. Testing a more diverse group ensures that the results apply to a broader population.
Future research could observe actual behavior in real-world settings rather than relying on written responses. The research team suggested that organizations design prevention programs that specifically address deep-seated beliefs about masculinity.
Training should go beyond strict legal definitions and focus on the cultural behaviors that enable harassment in the first place. Clinicians may utilize these insights when treating men who struggle with interpersonal boundaries. Human resources departments need to understand that strictly following procedural rules is not enough. Policies must counter the types of emotional restraint and control that prevent employees from helping each other.
The study, “Evolving Masculinity Norms Shapes Men’s Willingness to Intervene in Workplace Sexual Harassment,” was authored by Giulia Valsecchi, Vincenzo Iacoviello, and Juan Manuel Falomir Picaster.
