The Attitudes of Sexual Harassment in the Views of Gender Ideology and Bystander Effect

Abstract

Sexual harassment is still a concerning issue worldwide due to its adverse effects on victims’ physical and mental health along with their apprehension of societal judgement. The scope of this research is to explore the differences and association between gender ideology, bystander effect and attitudes of sexual harassment that exist among Malaysians. Methodologically, 406 Malaysian participated through either online or paper surveys to assess their perspectives on gender ideology, bystander intention to help and tolerance towards the attitudes of sexual harassment. The findings indicated that males were more prone to have higher attitudes of gender ideology and tolerance towards the attitudes of sexual harassment as compared to females, while females had higher bystander intention to help. The research also suggested that there was an association between gender ideology and bystander intention to help (r = -0.635, p = 0.000), gender ideology and attitudes of sexual harassment (r = 0.642, p = 0.000) and between bystander intention to help and attitudes of sexual harassment (r = -0.507, p = 0.000). In conclusion, the findings obtained may serve as a reference for further interventions in preventing sexual harassment cases as well as for in-depth research in the future.