“It Literally Happens Every Day”: The Multiple Settings, Multilevel Considerations, and Uncertainty Management of Modern-Day Sexual Harassment

Abstract

Younger employees are highly susceptible to sexual harassment, and with the advent of increased social media use, workplace sexual harassment now extends beyond the organization into cyberspace. The current study investigates younger employee experiences of sexual harassment across settings and the role of uncertainty management in this process. We discuss important considerations at each level related to uncertainty; namely, employment status, target status, spillover, coworker relationships, culture, and space. We offer important theoretical implications including the consideration of hegemony, uncertainty, and spillover to work on sexual harassment. Practical implications include encouraging organizations to develop policies that incorporate online sexual harassment.

Keywords:

• Online Sexual Harassment
• Sexual Harassment
• Social Networking Sites
• Uncertainty

Notes

1. Regulations of online behavior need to be done by a way that does not violate employee first amendment rights (Gossett, 2012).