Organizational Power and Organizational Tolerance of Sexual Harassment: The Effects on Bystanders in the Military

Sexual harassment and its negative effects have become a severe problem in the military. According to a RAND Military Workplace Study (2014), in a year an estimate 116,600 members reported being sexually harassed. Though critically important, most research to date has focused on the victims of sexual harassment to the exclusion of examining the effect of sexual harassment on those people observing the harassment. This study will focus on reviewing the consequences of observing sexual harassments on bystander emotional well-being and their attitudes and behavioral tendencies toward the organization. We will particularly focus on the influence of sexual harassment occurring within a culture perceived as being high in organizational tolerance of sexual harassment, defined as those in which targets are punished for complaining, perpetrators are not held accountable for harassment, and complaints are not taken seriously (Hulin, Fitzgerald, & Drasgow, 1996). As evidenced by Williams, Fitzgerald, and Drasgow (2009), we will explore whether bystanders to military sexual harassment experience negative psychological outcomes or whether these bystander effects are predicated on bystander responses and the organizational culture