Honors Theses

Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Degree Name

BA

Department

Political Science and Criminal Justice

Faculty Mentor

Scott Liebertz

Advisor(s)

Alexis Rockwell, Katherine Meeker

Abstract

Sexual harassment is a widespread issue influenced by societal attitudes that stem from victim blaiming and rape myth acceptance. These perceptions are often shaped by the identities of the parties involved, however there is limited research on how gender and race influence blame attribution. The purpose of this study is to examine how different identities shape public perceptions of victims in sexual harassment scenarios. Through using a nationwide sample and survey experiment, participants were randomly assigned to receive one of eight different hypothetical scenarios that differed by the race and gender of the victim, and the gender of the perpetrator. Respondents were also asked to evaluate the blameworthiness and irresponsibility of the victims. The results indicate that scenarios where the victim was harassed by someone of the same gender were blamed significantly less than those harassed by a different gender. Although the effect is more modest, Black victims were shown to receive less blame as well. The findings suggest that social attitudes and public perceptions of sexual harassment are shaped by the act in addition to the identities of those involved. This highlights the need for more research on biases related to identities in sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. It is important to understand these patterns to inform more equitable legal, educational, and support systems for survivors.

Comments

© 2025 Avarie Lambert ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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