Sexual harassment as a predictor of organisational outcomes

Abstract

The impact of sexual harassment on the performance of organisations may have taken its toll while remaining an open secret. Females have traditionally been on the receiving end of this harassment and the present study acknowledges this reality. To this end, this study explored the extent to which sexual harassment predicted organisational variables such as job satisfaction, turnover intentions and organisational commitment among a sample of female bank employees. Several theories indicate a link between sexual harassment and these organisational variables and they include attribution theory (Heider, 1958; Kelley, 1967; Weiner, 1985) as well as perspectives drawn from the sources of power (French & Raven, 1959). The study sample was composed of 103 women who responded to items in the following instruments: Sexual Harassment Scale (SHS), Intention to Turnover Scale (ITS) and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. It was discovered that most sexually harassed females were predominantly younger and of lower status in the organisation. Sexual harassment was also a strong predictor of turnover intentions among female employees. These findings were discussed in the light of prevailing studies and the appropriate theoretical backdrop.