Observers’ Reactions to Social-Sexual Behavior at Work: An Ethical Decision Making Perspective

Abstract

The role of observers has been generally ignored in prior theories and research on social-sexual behavior at work. This study proposed and tested an ethical decision making model of individuals’ reactions to social-sexual behavior that they witness at work. Full-time employees responded to vignettes regarding an incident of social-sexual behavior. The findings revealed the influence of both the moral intensity of the behavior and the ethical ideology of the observer on recognition of the behavior as an ethical issue and intentions to intervene in the behavior. In addition, respondents’ experiences with a sexualized work environment moderated the relationship between their recognition of social-sexual behavior as an ethical issue and their intentions to intervene in the behavior.