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What “works” and why it still isn't enough: sexual harassment training measures of effectiveness

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What “works” and why it still isn't enough: sexual harassment training measures of effectiveness

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WHAT “WORKS” AND WHY IT STILL ISN’T ENOUGH:
SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS

by

Zoey Isabella Ulrey

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC DORNSIFE COLLEGE OF LETTERS, ARTS, AND SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
(APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS)

December 2020

Copyright 2020 Zoey Isabella Ulrey

ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………..iii
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...iv
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1
Chapter 1: Litigation Prevention and Return on Investment (ROI)……………………………….4
Chapter 2: Improved Knowledge as a Measure of SH Training Effectiveness…………………...7
Chapter 3: Perception Change as a Measure of SH Training Effectiveness……………………..11
Chapter 4: Overt Behavior Change as a Measure of SH Training Effectiveness………………..13
Discussion and Call for Research………………………………………………………………..19
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….23
References……………………………………………………………………………………….24

iii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Summary of relevant studies on Sexual Harassment training effectiveness……….17-18

iv

Abstract
Sexual harassment is a prevalent issue in today’s society. In workplace settings as well as
academic settings, sexual harassment trainings aim to educate employees on what defines sexual
harassment, what it looks like, and what to do when it happens. At present, sexual harassment
still occurs at a high rate despite ubiquitous trainings in the workplace and in academia. Sexual
harassment has negative effects for individuals, including lower job satisfaction, negative career
consequences, stress and health concerns, and consequences for organizations like lower
productivity, litigation costs, absenteeism, and turnover (O’Leary-Kelly, Bowes-Sperry, Bates,
and Leans, 2009). Trainings that are more effective for actually changing the behaviors of
trainees in ways that last are needed to help decrease the occurrence of sexual harassment. This
paper presents a review of some common outcome measures for sexual harassment trainings, and
provides suggestions for how to improve trainings and training research in ways that will more
effectively address the problem of sexual harassment as a behavioral exchange rather than as a
concept or policy. Some trainings aim to improve knowledge surrounding sexual harassment,
some aim to improve the process for reporting sexual harassment, some may present changes in
perception or empathy, and others may directly train individuals on how to respond when being
harassed or witnessing harassment. Training methodologies that highlight skill acquisition and
overt behavior change, either immediately after training or over time, will also be reviewed.
Discussion of a behavior-analytic approach to sexual harassment training that has implications
for actually reducing the occurrence of sexual harassment in a workplace or university setting
will be included.
Keywords: sexual harassment, training effectiveness, outcome measures, behavioral skills
training

1
What “Works” and Why It Still Isn’t Enough: Skills Training for Sexual Harassment
A Master’s Thesis Review
Introduction
Most contemporary work environments require people of different cultures, genders,
beliefs, and experiences to interact and work together. It is inevitable that there will be conflict,
and in most instances a conflict is resolved using a defined system. When the conflict arises from
weaknesses in job performance, a superior may address issues using a job review and data
demonstrating performance levels and deficits. These expectations are generally clear and simple
to systematically address. Conflict becomes much more complicated when it is personal. When
the conflict arises not from a change in the quality of a person’s work but from a change in the
quality of the work environment for a person, which could then alter the quality of work that the
person does, lines become blurry and a system for addressing these issues has to be both
standardized and yet amenable to individualization. While it may seem awkward or socially
inappropriate to correct a person’s behavior towards another individual in a work setting, it is
necessary to do so when behaviors, such as harassment, have negative effects on the workplace
and/or its employees.
Sexual harassment has been a problem for many decades and remains a problem today. A
productive and positive work environment relies on employees feeling safe and valued. To have
conflict between coworkers creates a strain on overall productivity for a company. If employees
feel safe and valued in their workplace, they are more likely to share ideas and feedback that
could improve individual projects and the performance of the company as a whole. This applies
to a school setting as well. If in a classroom setting a student feels safe and valued, they are more
likely to ask questions and contribute ideas that service their learning and the learning of

2
everyone in the room. While this seems self-explanatory, sexual harassment still occurs often.
According to a study done by Krieger et al. (2006), of ~1200 union worker participants, 26% of
women and 22% of men had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace (p.
63). Furthermore, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational
Foundation reported that two-thirds of college students know someone who has experienced
sexual harassment and 62% have experienced it themselves (2005, p. 15). While valuing the
mental health and safety of community members is enough to see addressing this issue as a
priority, jeopardized mental health is not the only consequence to sexual harassment behaviors.
In a review done by O’Leary-Kelly, Bowes-Sperry, Bates, and Lean (2003), job withdrawal,
work withdrawal, decreased workgroup productivity, increased turnover, client withdrawal, and
team conflict were cited as consequences of sexual harassment (p. 505). There could also be
litigation required, along with the costs of any legal action, which are possible consequences.
To better put the numbers described above into perspective, a clear definition of sexual
harassment must be included. There are many definitions of sexual harassment, some are legal
and others may be psychological, behavioral, or sex-based. O’Leary-Kelly et al. (2003) note that
the different types of definitions differ in the “the extent to which they define [sexual
harassment] as a subjective and/or objective phenomenon” (p. 505). Many corporate sexual
harassment trainings use legal definitions of sexual harassment. For an example of a legal
definition, the University of Southern California (USC) defines sexual harassment (SH) as
“unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of
a sexual nature when (a) submission to such conduct is either explicitly or implicitly made a term
or condition of an individual’s employment, appointment, admission, or academic evaluation; or
(b) submission to such conduct is used as a basis for evaluation in personnel decisions, academic

3
evaluations, or admissions evaluations affecting an individual; or (c) such conduct has the effect
of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance, or creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or learning environment” (2019, p. 94-95). With this
definition in mind, it is shocking to consider that almost two-thirds of college students and
around 1 in 4 women and 1 in 5 men in the workforce experience this type of behavior. Not only
does this negatively affect individuals, but it has large economic costs as well. In the year 2019,
sexual harassment charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) cost organizations and harassers $68.2 million, excluding monetary benefits obtained
through litigation (U.S. EEOC, 2019). To decrease sexual harassment behaviors would mean an
improvement in the workplace environment, job performance, company productivity and a
decrease in costs for processing and settling charges.
In applied behavior analysis, socially significant, objectively defined behaviors are
targeted for change, so a behavioral definition of sexual harassment is important. Fitzgerald,
Gelfand, and Drasgow (1995) divided sexual harassment as a behavioral construct into three
dimensions that are consistent with legal definitions. The dimensions are sexual coercion,
unwanted sexual attention, and gender harassment, and within each of these dimensions can be
an extensive list of verbal and nonverbal behaviors (p. 430-431). This theoretical framework was
formed from the results of a Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) used to analyze the
prevalence of sexual harassment among large samples of women, but while only including the
term sexual harassment once at the end so as to not let any ambiguity surrounding
understandings of the term influence responses. This framework fits well within the legal
definitions of sexual harassment and may be effectively utilized when providing sexual

4
harassment trainings to corporate staff or even to students, counselors, or other members of a
workplace.
A substantial amount of research has been done on sexual harassment. Previous research
has evaluated a variety of factors, including motivations for sexual harassment behavior, the
consequences for sexual harassment behaviors, definitions of sexual harassment, as well as the
effectiveness of sexual harassment trainings. Very little research has evaluated overt behaviors as
a measure of effectiveness for harassment training. In a review of sexual harassment training
effectiveness, Roehling and Huang (2018) identified several measures used in research to gauge
effectiveness, including “trainee reactions, increased motivation, learning outcomes, the transfer
of knowledge and skills to the workplace, return on the investment (ROI) in training, and its
impact on organizational performance” (p. 135). These dependent variables, while having an
effect on a corporation or work environment and its employees, do not include changes in overt
behavior that affect the occurrence of sexual harassment. Indeed, very little research has been
done on trainings that include overt behavior change as a goal of the training. This review
summarizes several prominent measures of effectiveness in SH research and proposes ideas for
future research on training methodology that might address the significant problem of SH more
effectively.
Litigation Prevention and Return on Investment (ROI)
Sexual harassment training is required in many workplaces, but is all too often
implemented for the purpose of preventing litigation instead of for the prevention of sexual
harassment itself. As Bisom-Rapp (2001) explains, if the purpose of the trainings is to actually
have an effect on a social problem, we must implement training programs that are demonstrated
to be effective and that are systematically evaluated. Moreover, Bisom-Rapp asserts “until we

5
know much more about sexual harassment training and its effects, the existence of these
programs should not be considered a fact relevant to employer liability for compensatory
damages in any discrimination suit. To allow a corporate practice with only speculative value to
influence the make whole recovery of an employee injured by a sexually hostile environment is
too destructive of employee rights to be countenanced” (p. 145). An interest in efforts to prevent
litigation related to sexual harassment allegations comes from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 which prohibits harassment and discrimination, and the agency responsible for enforcing
Title VII is the EEOC. Several cases decided by the Supreme Court regarding allegations against
corporations have led to recommendations for Title VII liability prevention, and these
recommendations include proactive steps like sexual harassment trainings (Chapman, 2003).
Because of the motivation to minimize costs and avoid litigation, some corporations considered
purchasing employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) a “proactive” approach. Many policy
limits were insufficient for what employers needed during litigation, so corporations were still
losing money and, more importantly, the problems that resulted in litigation and Supreme Court
imposed duties for corporations were not being sufficiently addressed.
Prevention training became the gold standard for harassment prevention as well as
liability prevention. As Chapman (2003) explains, the Supreme Court’s decisions were
communicating to employers that, in order to be found not liable, you must have “a two-prong
affirmative defense and show that (a) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and
promptly correct any harassment, and (b) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of
any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm
otherwise” (p. 33). This specification ensures that SH that creates a hostile work environment is
the employer’s liability just as tangible actions that fall under quid pro quo harassment. For these

6
reasons, the EEOC advises trainings for all employees to understand their rights and
responsibilities. With these recommendations as the primary guide for corporations, litigation
prevention is most often the primary objective of sexual harassment trainings. Accordingly, some
research has been published that analyzes the return on investment (ROI) for training as a
measure of effectiveness. Since the primary objective of corporate SH trainings is litigation
prevention and its associated costs, ROI may be considered a useful variable for corporate
research. In Chapman’s (2003) comparison of the costs of proactive versus reactive measures
based on typical verdicts and class-action figures, a company of 20,000 employees could save
$11.75 million in one year if training is required outright, because one of the consequences of
litigation is to require further training anyway. She asserts that “you can pay for training now…
or you can pay for it later while potentially spending millions of dollars and jeopardizing your
organization” (p. 36). Other benefits of this training are listed in the article but monetary savings
are underscored.
In a study of a large corporation’s efforts to improve SH training presented in a book
chapter (not a peer-reviewed journal), ROI was used as a measure of effectiveness in a training
attempted to address two issues: 1) lack of understanding of the company’s policy on what
constitutes sexual harassment, and 2) insensitivity to the issue (Hill & Phillips, 1997). After
supervisor and departmental interviews and data collection, a protocol was created for a one-day
workshop for managers in which knowledge of policy and SH behavior was measured at pre-
and post-test. Data were also collected from supervisees after supervisors had post-training
meetings to discuss the content of the training and educate supervisees and these surveys asked
questions regarding what changes had been observed in response to the training. Results of the
training, using data from one-year prior to the program and one year after the program, showed a

7
reduction in internal complaints, external charges, litigated complaints, reduction in turnover,
reduction in legal fees and settlements (Hill & Phillips, 1997, p. 28). Furthermore, “the ROI
calculation, which uses net benefits, shows a return of 1,052%” (p.32) which is staggering and
measures of knowledge and satisfaction for both participants and other employees was improved.
This research demonstrates the use of ROI as an effectiveness measure which is appealing to
corporations, but it also includes an attempt to measure behavior change, if indirectly, in
response to training.
Many corporate trainings focus on litigation prevention and assume or hope that
behaviors and workplace culture will also be changed, but Bisom-Rapp (2001) explains that
there is “absolutely no empirical support” that training and instruction fosters employee tolerance
or changes workplace culture, but that its goal of litigation prevention is often successful (p.126).
Bison-Rapp emphasize that understanding policy and knowledge about behavior is not the same
as a change in behavior, itself. Future research must use methodologies that focus not only on
policy understanding but skill-building for preventing and responding to sexual harassment as a
behavior and not merely as a concept. Research that can demonstrate both immediate and long-
term behavior change will more precisely address the social issue of sexual harassment. Research
on sexual harassment trainings whose outcome measures are actually observable behaviors and
that are shown to effectively alter the workplace culture and reduce the prevalence of sexual
harassment must be done and it must be done now in order to see dissemination of these
trainings to corporations whose priorities lie in litigation prevention.
Improved Knowledge as a Measure of SH Training Effectiveness
One common used research measure of SH training effectiveness is knowledge, including
knowledge of what constitutes sexual harassment and knowledge of sexual harassment reporting

8
policies. Some mark it as one of a few outcome measures (Hill & Phillips, 1997; Bingham &
Scherer, 2001; Preusser, Bartels, & Nordstrom, 2011; Magley, Fitzgerald, Salisbury, Drasgow, &
Zickar, 2013; Goldberg, Rawski, & Perry, 2019). While policies typically require sexual
harassment training is administered at organizations, specific guidelines for how to conduct
trainings are rarely given and, as is exemplified in Bingham & Scherer (2001), “the assumption
that ‘any effort is better than no effort’” (p.129) often leads to trainings whose focus is solely on
the ability of trainees to understand concepts and policies, not change their behavior. While these
variables are important, organizations and research often neglect analyzing whether the increased
knowledge that is evidence of an effective sexual harassment training actually functions to
decrease any sexual harassment behaviors at the organizational level. Very little research
measures any change in sexual harassment reporting, and if they do, it is a self-report at a post-
test date. Many of these research methodologies evaluate knowledge acquisition by surveys or
tests for fluency after training, compared to a control group who did not receive training, often
with no pre-test of knowledge given to the participants who receive training. Without a measured
decrease in behaviors reported, it is difficult to say that the training was effective from a big-
picture perspective.
For instance, in Bingham and Scherer (2001), the researchers included a control group
and an experimental group of participants at a university, and those in the experimental group
participated in a 30-minute training that included watching a video, listening to an oral
presentation, and having a discussion. Using several sets of questions and self-report measures,
researchers evaluated participant’s knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, willingness to report, and
attributions of blame of SH. Results showed better knowledge and attitudes surrounding SH
among participants that nonparticipants, but no improved perception of SH or increase in

9
willingness to report (p. 142). The strength of this research is that it did not only evaluate
knowledge of definitions and policy, but actual judgement of examples and intention for
participants’ behavior. However, the training was ineffective for measures that indicate decision-
making skills, which is likely required for the actual reduction of sexual harassment, and no
measures were included to evaluate whether the training actually resulted in a reduction in
reports of SH. The implication of these findings is that methodologies only including watching
media and listening to presentations may be sufficient for improving the understanding of a
concept, but insufficient for changing the behavior of individuals.
Very similar outcome measures were used in Preusser, Bartels, and Nordstrom (2011),
but in this study there was a comparison between computer-led and instructor-led training and
learning was evaluated with a multiple-choice test at pre- and post. Results showed no advantage
for one modality over the other, but that learning increased and reactions were positive
regardless (p. 55). The study used multiple-choice tests as an outcome measure, which may be a
weaker measure than other measures of knowledge, such as short answer tests that require the
production of a response. In Campbell, Kramer, Woolman, Staecker, Visker, and Cox (2013), a
developed training curriculum was used in a corporate office and a quiz was used to evaluate
knowledge acquisition. This training was instructor-led and used both lecture and media
materials. Results showed improved knowledge for participants, which included employees
across three different work sectors – service, military, and social service (p. 426). Again, this
training methodology was effective for improving knowledge about SH but included no in-
person skills training or practice (role-play) and no evaluation of over measures of effectiveness.
In an evaluation of a training program done by Beauvais (1986), knowledge and attitudes
were assessed using a survey created by the researcher, which includes questions about a

10
definition for sexual harassment and “most effective and appropriate responses by a victim” (p.
137). The training program included trigger tapes depicting varied scenarios for sexual
harassment and discussion of the scenarios as well as values of participants in regards to SH.
Results showed that overall attitudes in the group changed in the desired direction. Results of the
survey item assessing ability to define SH did not improve with significance from pre-test, but
ability to identify appropriate behaviors of victims increased significantly. A strength of this
study and training program is that they modeled scenarios of responses and discussion among
participants, which may have aided in learning. However, changes were not compared to a
control group and Beauvais (1986) clarifies that no suggestion for generalizability of results can
be made by this study (p. 140). Another concern in assessing knowledge is the focus on a
victim’s response in sexual harassment training. If the goal of a training is to reduce sexual
harassment by harassers but the focus of the training is on the victim, this may place the
responsibility for change on the victim. This type of protocol has been seen in other SH research
as well (Barak, 1994). To change a significant behavioral issue like sexual harassment, behavior
must be considered in context, from multiple perspectives, and interventions should likely focus
on both antecedent and consequence variables to facilitate behavior change. Furthermore, a
behavioral exchange that most often involves a power imbalance should likely focus on
behavioral change on the part of the more powerful member of the exchange.
An example of a study that trained individuals involved in the actual managing of SH
behaviors, HR managers, was done by Goldberg, Rawski, and Perry (2019). Their knowledge
measure did not include definitions of sexual harassment, but instead knowledge of the protocols
and skills required for an HR manager to navigate misconduct allegations, like interviewing
witnesses, compiling and analyzing evidence, report drafting, and managing the workplace

11
during and after an investigation. They also analyzed the influence of organizational tolerance
for sexual harassment (OTSH) on participants knowledge, attitudes, and motivation to learn.
Results showed that “OTSH has both a direct effect and an indirect effect (through motivation to
learn) on post-training knowledge” (p. 92). The strength of this study lies in its methodology
being tailored to the role its participants play in both the workplace culture and the occurrence of
SH. Although the training still focused on behaviors in response to SH allegations, it does focus
on specific behaviors and does not place responsibility for change on victims. These studies on
knowledge as a measure of SH training effectiveness have implications that trainings should
include at least some in-person discussion or training to improve knowledge, but also
demonstrate a lack of actual preventative skills trainings for the observable reduction and
measurement of sexual harassment. Future research should include both policy and conceptual
knowledge, but also include in-person skills training to effectively change the behavior of
participants individually in order to effect behavior change at a larger scale.
Perceptions Change as a Measure of SH Training Effectiveness
Another commonly used outcome measure in the SH training literature is perceptions of
SH. “Perception” is a difficult term to define and study because it does not reflect any change in
a participant’s behavior or any change at a group or organizational level, and furthermore is only
reflective of a participant’s evaluation of a behavior or concept, and not their behaviors or
intention to behave in any way. This is very similar to using knowledge as a measure of
effectiveness, because “perception” in this research is an evaluation using knowledge. Perception
is very often evaluated using a questionnaire or scale for the participant to complete at pre- and
post-treatment. Several studies included in this review used versions of the Sexual Experiences
Questionnaire (SEQ) to measure perceptions, knowledge, or attitudes of sexually-harassing

12
behaviors. In one study by Birdeau Somers, and Lenihan (2005), undergraduate students were
randomly assigned to two types of treatment methodologies – video training and literature
reading, and control. Post-treatment, the participants completed a modified version of the SEQ
called the SEQ-R, along with a measure created for the study called the BRQ which includes
ambiguous behaviors, and a demographic questionnaire (p. 500). Regardless of treatment
modality, participants showed better identification of sexual harassment at post-test than did
control. One strength of this study is the inclusion and underscoring of using ambiguous
behaviors in training for which participants judge the severity (p. 507). The authors highlight that
this is useful for the application of identification skills due to its relevance in possible legal
proceedings at the organizational level. A study done in Malaysia by Sabitha (2008) also revised
the SEQ to be more applicable for Malaysian participants and “the training included various
techniques such as live and video modeling, simulation games, role-playing, and structured small
group discussions” (p. 5) and results showed participants’ perceptions of sexual harassment were
improved by training. A strength of this study was its varied teaching strategies during training,
but again, perception as a measure of effectiveness is not directly related to a change in behavior
at the organizational or individual level.
Similar to the Birdeau, Somers, and Lenihan (2005) study, video training and literature
reading training were evaluated in Bonate & Jessel (1996). In this study, however, a Harassment
Sensitivity Inventory (HSI) was used to measure perception of SH. Results showed that
educational literature resulted in an improvement in perception but that video training showed no
significant improvement as compared to change in the control group (p. 760-761). A study done
by Jacobs, Bergen, and Korn (2000) created a measure for perception, a climate survey that
assessed participants’ perception of environment and prevalence of SH that was administered at

13
pre-and post-training. Training included both education about legal definitions of sexual
harassment as well as teaching strategies and skills for SH prevention. Results showed that
faculty participants at a medical school reported significant improvements in school environment
following the implementation of training (p. 467). Further studies used measures consisting of
vignettes of scenarios presented for participants to judge whether or not it was sexual
harassment. Blakely, Blakeley, and Moorman (1998) used a 13-item measure they had
previously developed and this same measure was used in Buckner, Hindman, Huelsman, and
Bergman (2014). Moyer and Nath (1998) used a 14-scenario measure for perception in their
study. These trainings are useful in that they require participants to make a judgement about a
presented behavior, but the appropriate behaviors are not modeled for them or practiced by them,
and no rationale for their answers is required which means no observable behavior change is
necessarily seen. Future research should focus on the use of measures that require both action
and explanation to further aid learning and (hopefully) influence the future frequency of
behavior. This training approach is better exemplified by the measure and training procedure
presented in York, Barclay, and Zajack (1997), because their training included videos, open-
ended questions to be answered in order to analyze a case, and discussion, however their test was
also only a vignette evaluation. Future research should include overt behaviors in both training
and evaluation of training.
Overt Behavior Change as a Measure of SH Training Effectiveness
Reports of sexual harassment are the most common measure used by the EEOC to depict
the prevalence of SH in the US. This number, like almost any other data composed of
individuals’ specific accounts of a phenomena, is not necessarily the same as the true prevalence
of the behavior. Pattern changes in reporting are often used as indicators of change in sexual

14
harassment prevalence. In some of the research presented in this review, self-report of SH
prevalence is used as a quantifiable measure of behavior change and effectiveness. Many studies
included self-report measures like the SEQ that ask about experiences in general terms, i.e., “In
the last year have experienced…” with a Likert scale for estimated prevalence (Barak, 1994;
Jacobs et al., 2000; Sabitha, 2008; Perry et al., 2010; Magley et al., 2013; Coker et al., 2016).
However, this is not a true frequency count of instances of SH, as would be data on actual
complaints made to HR. Hill and Phillips (1997), discussed in a previous section, used data on
internal complaints and external charges, which could be considered overt measures of change in
that the corporation could quantify change related to training.
One study that targeted overt behaviors for change related to the consequences of sexual
harassment did not involve participants who would be directly involved in sexual harassment
scenarios, but instead trained a contact person for sexual harassment within a workplace, likely
in the Human Resources (HR) department. The Blaxall, Parsonsona, and Robertson (1993) study
design was a multiple probe design with pre- and post-training tests of behavior occurrence
across three groups of two trainees and evaluated overt target behaviors associated with listening
and helping skills, as well as skills associated with facilitating meetings with employees.
Examples of target behaviors in the listening to a problem category included “requesting
problem statement, actively listen – posture, eye contact, nonverbal behavior, verbal behavior –
and a summary statement of the problem” (p. 152). This training package was comprised of five
components: behavioral specifications, rationales, situational examples, study guides, and role-
play exercises. Results showed an improvement in overt target skills, knowledge, and confidence
of trainees. This is a strong example of measuring sexual harassment training effectiveness via
overt behavior change, but this training would only aim to decrease occurrence of sexual

15
harassment indirectly by way of more effective consequence measures and systems. More
research should aim to directly decrease the incidence of sexual harassment within an
organization.
Perry, Kulik, and Schmidtke (1998) measured an overt behavior in response to training,
which they labeled “touching behavior” (p. 698). In this study, participants either watched a
sexual harassment awareness training video or a sign language video (control), and then an
instructional video on golf putting. They were then asked to train a female confederate how to
putt. Along with pre-and post-knowledge tests and a pre-and post- Likelihood to Sexually Harass
(LSH) measures, research assistants analyzed the video footage of participants’ “training” and
coded their behavior for number of touches and rated appropriateness of touching using Likert
scales, e.g., “to what extent did the subject’s physical contact conform to the task requirements?
How sexual was the subject’s physical contact with the confederate?” (p. 710). Results showed
that SH awareness training was more effective for improving knowledge of SH in participants
with a high pre-test LSH than a low pre-test LSH, and those with a high pre-test LSH exhibited
much lower inappropriate touching behaviors after SH awareness training than did their high
pre-test LSH control counterparts (p. 715). On the contrary, the implementation of SH awareness
training did not result in a significantly lower LSH at post-test for participants. This study has
many strengths in that an overt behavior was measured for change and as a measure of training
effectiveness, and there is evidence that the training changed the overt SH behaviors of high LSH
participants. However, LSH was not changed by training. This could be seen as an indication that
the training was ineffective at changing the “mindset” or attitudes of participants, or that
changing cognition is not necessary to effectively address and reduce the occurrence of SH. This
latter point could be made more strongly by running a follow-up test of inappropriate touching

16
wherein these same high pre-test LSH participants are placed in a contrived “training” situation
again with a confederate and if the SH-trained participants still exhibit lower inappropriate
touching than their control counterparts, then there would be strong evidence that the SH training
effectively reduced the occurrence of SH. Further research should continue to make use of overt
behaviors of both participants and follow-up at the organizational level to measure the true
change in SH prevalence in response to training.

17

Table 1. Summary of relevant studies on Sexual Harassment training effectiveness.
Study Design Population
Use of role-
play in training Outcome Measures
Beauvais (1986) Non-controlled trial
60 university
employees
No Attitudes, knowledge
Blaxall, Parsonsona, &
Robertson (1993)
Multiple-probe design 6 corporate employees Yes
Listening and helping skills, knowledge,
confidence
Schewe & O’Donohue (1993)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
68 “high-risk” males No Empathy, rape myths and facts
Barak (1994) Non-controlled trial
25 female government
employees
Yes
Participant satisfaction and self-reported
prevalence of SH
Bonate & Jessell (1996)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
96 university students No Perceptions of SH
Hill & Phillips (1997)
Cost Benefit Analysis, Non-
controlled trial
655 corporate managers Yes Knowledge, Return on investment (ROI)
York, Barclay, & Zajack (1997)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
98 students No Sensitivity to SH situations
Blakely, Blakely, & Moorman
(1998)
Cluster Randomized Trial 176 university students No Perceptions of workplace SH
Moyer & Nath (1998)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
60 university students No Perceptions
Perry, Kulik, Schmidtke (1998)
Between Groups,
potentially randomized
design
36 undergraduate males No
Knowledge, touching behavior, likelihood
to harass
Jacobs, Bergen, & Korn (2000) Cross-sectional study
~410 medical school
faculty
Yes
Perceptions of SH and discrimination,
self-report of SH behavior
Bingham & Scherer (2001) Cluster Randomized Trial
516 university
employees
No
Knowledge, perception, willingness-to-
report, attributions, attitudes
Robb & Doverspike (2001)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
90 undergraduate males No Proclivity to harass

18
Antecol & Cobb-Clark (2003) Cross-sectional study
5,875 civilian
employees
N/A Attitudes
Birdeau, Somers, & Lenihan
(2005)
Randomized Between
Groups Design, post-test
only
190 university students No Ability to identify SH
Goldberg (2007) Cluster Randomized Trial
282 white-collar
professionals
No Intentions to intervene on SH
Sabitha (2008)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
126 company
employees
Yes Perceptions and attitudes
Pilgram & Keyton (2009)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
323 university students No Knowledge and ID of SH behaviors
Perry, Kulik, Bustamante, &
Golom (2010)
Cross-sectional study
288 HR and personnel
directors
Yes Reactions, Self-report of SH behavior
Preusser, Bartels, & Nordstrom
(2011)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
70 university
employees
No Knowledge, reactions
Campbell, Kramer, Woolman,
Staecker, Visker, & Cox (2013)
Non-Randomized Control
Trial
100 employees in
various work sectors
No Knowledge
Magley, Fitzgerald, Salisbury,
Drasgow, & Zickar (2013)
Cluster Non-Randomized
Trial
~1,420 corporate
employees
Yes
Reactions, knowledge, Organizational
climate, attitudes, self-report of SH
prevalence
Buckner, Hindman, Huelsman,
& Bergman (2014)
Cross-sectional study 209 managers No
Identification and response accuracy to
hypothetical SH vignettes
Diehl, Glaser, & Bohner (2014)
Randomized Between
Groups Design
1,220 university
students
No
Sexual harassment myth acceptance
(SHMA), likelihood to sexually harass
(LSH)
Coker et al. (2016) Cross-sectional study
7,111 university
students
Yes Interpersonal violence victimization rates
Goldberg, Rawski, & Perry
(2019)
Non-controlled trial 64 HR managers No Knowledge and attitudes

19
Discussion and Call for Research
It is well-known that sexual harassment is a behavioral phenomenon with severe and
widespread consequences. Because it is a behavior that can be seen and evaluated in the legal
system, it should be researched and implemented as a behavior. Applied behavior analysis
targets socially significant behaviors for change. To be socially significant, a behavior must
affect the day-to-day life of a person and those around them (Cooper, Heron, and Heward, 2007,
p. 36). A behavior change can occur with the manipulation of the environmental variables
surrounding the behavior. Interventions for change may be antecedent interventions, which occur
before the onset of a behavior with the goal of changing the probability of that behavior to occur.
There could also be consequence interventions that change the environment directly after the
occurrence of a behavior using the principles of reinforcement and punishment to change the
probability of the behavior occurring. Most sexual harassment trainings are antecedent
interventions that provide people with the definition of sexual harassment and the contingencies
that surround sexual harassment behavior. Unfortunately, when people engage in sexual
harassment, they do not always contact the negative consequences for their behavior and it
continues to occur.
Research on training effectiveness in general has focused on protocols and learning
objectives that are best suited for the acquisition and maintenance of knowledge and behavior.
One study that was thorough in its methodology for ensuring that a multilevel analysis of
effectiveness was included as well as SH research recommendations to include discrimination
training for SH behaviors was the Pilgram & Keyton (2009) research. In this study, different
training methodologies were compared to measure differentiation in knowledge acquisition and
ability to identify sexually harassing behaviors. The different training formats were online, face-

20
to-face, or reading. Results showed that retention was not seen in any group between post-test
and follow-up, and no significant knowledge gain was seen between pre- and post-test for
participants (p. 230). It was explained that an oversensitivity to examples or situations may have
resulted in lower accuracy when being evaluated. This is an example of how even the most well-
developed methodologies using all research-backed components may miss the mark on
measuring what really matters when it comes to sexual harassment training, which is the
behavior of participants. Future research could use this same methodology but include an actual
exercise involving the participants role-playing a scenario or using skills learned, and this
behavioral measure could be indicative of training effectiveness.
There were several studies included in this review that made use of role-playing and
behavioral modeling exercises in training (Jacobs et al., 2000; Coker et al., 2016; Barak, 1994;
Hill & Phillips, 1997; Sabitha, 2008; Magley et al. 2013). This is encouraging to see, as these
procedures are components of a highly empirically-supported and common-used teaching
strategy in applied behavior analysis, behavioral skills training (BST) (Miltenberger, 2004).
BAST consists of verbal instruction, modeling, role-play, and feedback. This strategy for
teaching new skills has been shown to be effective in many applications, for instance when
teaching gun-play prevention safety skills in children, staff training, and social skills training
(Miltenberger, Flessner, Batheridge, Johnson, Satterlund, & Egemo, 2004). Although these
studies made use of skill-based exercises in training, only three studies demonstrated using an
overt behavior as a measure of training effectiveness (Blaxall et al., 1993; Hill & Phillips, 1997;
Perry et al., 1998). More training should use overt behaviors as measures of effectiveness. To
avoid subjecting participants to direct (although contrived) scenarios of sexual harassment,
trainings could highlight the teaching of bystander skills in situations of sexual harassment.

21
There is a decent body of research on what behaviors make an effective bystander (Latané
& Darley, 1970). Furthermore, these behaviors have been taught in situations of bullying and
sexual harassment and assault (Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley, 2014) and can be used to
teach practical skills like speaking up, stating the problem, and labeling their actions and
rationale, as well as evaluate skill improvement as a measure of training effectiveness. Although
other common factors like gender differences, other forms of discrimination, and environment
must be considered in the development of effective sexual harassment trainings, overt behaviors
are important to include and future research should utilize them in order to better evaluate the
effectiveness of training on the most relevant factors.
Future research should take into consideration what dependent variables best address
what sexual harassment is - a repertoire of behaviors. Behavior analysts are specialists in
changing and maintaining changes is socially-significant behaviors, and so sexual harassment
can be argued to be a relevant application of this science. Many of the studies included in this
review measure the understanding of SH as a concept, and participants’ ability to identify SH
behaviors. Still other research included protocols that outlined an institution’s policy on sexual
harassment, which is also helpful. Some studies included measures of change in the number of
sexual harassment reports a company gets. Since it is possible that with increased understanding
will come increased reporting, it may be seen that reporting goes up relative to baseline after
training, not necessarily because SH prevalence has increased but because awareness and
understanding have increased, and the new reporting number is in actuality more indicative of
the prevalence of SH in that workplace. Future research could address this possibility in several
ways. One possibility would be to have participants take frequency data on the number of times
they see or experience sexual harassment in their workplace (no formal training on

22
identification) and include a pre-test knowledge scale for the first experiment. Next could be a
replication of one of the knowledge studies included in this review, something with the
rigorously researched and multi-dimensional protocol of the Pilgram and Keyton (2009) study
wherein general training evaluation criteria were accounted for as well as best practices for
sexual harassment training specifically, and diverse examples of roles and scenarios in training
materials. A helpful addition to this training would be the inclusion of training to report, so that
employees understand exactly how to address sexual harassment from a formality standpoint and
the response effort for a possibly novel behavior like reporting will be lowered for participants.
After the knowledge training, a post-test knowledge test will be administered that is identical to
the pre-test, and frequency data will again be collected from participants on the prevalence of SH
in their workplace. This data will act as a baseline or pre-test for the follow-up skills training on
how to identify and respond to harassment situations from the perspective of a bystander,
supervisor, HR manager (could replicate methodology of Blaxall et al., 1993), etc. This would
mean the inclusion of overt behavior change of participants within training as supported by data.
Post-test would again be sexual harassment prevalence data, and if the prevalence data went up
between pre-test and post-test of study one but then down at post-test of study 2, there may be
evidence that not only do participants know how to identify and report sexual harassment, but
that skills training has resulted in the reduction of sexual harassment in the workplace, the most
valuable change we want to see. In this example, there would be the inclusion of behavior
change measures within training and as a measure of effectiveness that actually indicates a
reduction in sexual harassment.

23
Conclusion
In conclusion, the proliferation of sexual harassment training is, on one hand, an
encouraging development, insofar as it marks an increased awareness and dedication to
addressing the problem of sexual harassment. In addition, substantial research has been
conducted on sexual harassment trainings, which provides an encouraging initial empirical
foundation. On the other hand, much of the motivation for sexual harassment trainings appears to
be avoidance of the costs of litigation, as opposed to producing meaningful decreases in
harassment. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that the majority of research on sexual harassment
trainings has not measured actual reductions in sexual harassment as an outcome of training.
Much more research is needed that includes measures of overt behavior, both during training and
as an outcome of training. The area of sexual harassment training is an important potential area
of research for the field of applied behavior analysis, as the field is characterized by a focus on
producing substantial changes in socially meaningful overt behaviors.

24
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Asset Metadata

Creator Ulrey, Zoey Isabella (author)

Core Title What “works” and why it still isn't enough: sexual harassment training measures of effectiveness

School College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Degree Master of Science

Degree Program Applied Behavior Analysis

Publication Date 09/18/2020

Defense Date 08/25/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag behavioral skills training,OAI-PMH Harvest,outcome measures,sexual harassment,training effectiveness

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tarbox, Jonathan (committee chair), Aclan, Megan (committee member), Lopez, Steven (committee member)

Creator Email ziulrey@umich.edu,zulrey@usc.edu

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