
Contents
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What Is Sexual Harassment? What Is Sexual Harassment?
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The “Reasonable Person” or the “Reasonable Woman”? The “Reasonable Person” or the “Reasonable Woman”?
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“Error Management Theory” and Sex Differences in Perceptions “Error Management Theory” and Sex Differences in Perceptions
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Misperceptions, Miscommunication, and Sexual Harassment Misperceptions, Miscommunication, and Sexual Harassment
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Power versus Sex Power versus Sex
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Premature Rejection of the “Natural/Biological” Model Premature Rejection of the “Natural/Biological” Model
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Conflicting Predictions about Status and Unwelcomeness Conflicting Predictions about Status and Unwelcomeness
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Weaknesses of a Theory that Neglects Biology Weaknesses of a Theory that Neglects Biology
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Power and the Priming of Sexual Psychology Power and the Priming of Sexual Psychology
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“Because of Sex” “Because of Sex”
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Sex-based Language May Have a Variety of Motivations Sex-based Language May Have a Variety of Motivations
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Is Everything “Because of Sex”? Is Everything “Because of Sex”?
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Conclusion Conclusion
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References References
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5 The Evolutionary Psychology of Sexual Harassment
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Published:October 2008
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Abstract
This chapter examines patterns of behavior that may constitute sexual harassment through the lens of evolutionary psychology, a perspective that makes better sense of this constellation of behavior than its purely sociocultural competitors. It considers three sexual harassment issues that have been either erroneously or incompletely analyzed because of a failure to consider the findings of evolutionary psychology. The first is whether the hostility of an environment should be judged from the perspective of the “reasonable person” or from that of the “reasonable woman” (as in a large portion of cases a woman is the complainant). The second issue involves the frequently repeated but seldom examined assertion that sexual harassment is “not about sex but about power.” The final issue is the accuracy of the assumption that abuse which takes a sexual form, such as sexual epithets or hazing that has sexual overtones, is necessarily directed at the target “because of sex”.
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