Researchers from the Netherlands have found that employees who seek to dominate others more often see sexual undertones in the friendly behavior of colleagues of the opposite sex. And those who perceive more sexual interest more often report their own actions that could be considered harassment. The work was published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
The study involved two groups of working adults from the UK recruited through the Prolific Academic platform. The first survey had 209 people (average age 38, half women), the second had 345 people (average age 40, 48% women). All participants were heterosexual, as they assessed the behavior of a colleague of the other sex. In the first study, people filled out two questionnaires a week apart; in the second, three questionnaires at weekly intervals.
Participants rated how much seven descriptions of a colleague's behavior (for example, a bright smile and friendly conversation on the first workday) indicate sexual interest. Dominance motivation (the desire to control others), prestige motivation (the desire for respect through competence), openness to casual sex and formal power at work were also measured. The third questionnaire in the second study asked about workplace misconduct over the past year and about sexual harassment over the past three months.
It turned out that the stronger a person's striving to dominate, the more sexual interest they tend to attribute to colleagues' behavior. This link did not depend on sex, position or attitude toward casual sex. Prestige motivation was not linked to such perceptions. On average, women saw more sexual interest in men's behavior than men saw in women's behavior. The authors suggest this reflects women's expectations regarding male interest rather than contradicting previous data, since the accuracy of perception was not measured in the study.
In the second study the results were repeated. In addition, those who perceived more sexual interest more often reported sexual harassment. These perceptions partially explained the link between dominance motivation and harassment. In an additional analysis not planned in advance, the pattern appeared only among men: among women, perception of sexual interest was not linked to harassment. Perception of sexual interest did not correlate with general workplace misconduct - that is, the issue is specifically sexual harassment, not bad behavior in general.
The authors emphasize that they found a psychological mechanism linking the striving to dominate with harassment, and suggest that organizations rely less on dominant traits when hiring and promoting, encouraging cooperation and respect. However, the study does not prove causation: all data are based on self-reports, harassment may have been underreported, and the links were weak. In addition, participants rated descriptions of behavior rather than real interactions, and the sample is limited to heterosexual adults from the UK.