Workplace harassment hurts everyone on the job

By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff

Women and minorities may not be the only victims of workplace harassment. According to new research, the hurtful effects of racist and sexist jokes and slurs spill over to a group long blamed for hurling such insults: white men.

Gender and racial harassment in the workplace spurs dissatisfaction among white men just as it does among women and minorities, suggests a study by psychologist Chaya Piotrkowski, PhD, who presented the findings at the recent APA-sponsored conference, 'Public health in the 21st century.' Her study showed that white men viewed a hostile work environment as less fair than a bias-free workplace.

'White men thought a hostile workplace offered them less chance for advancement,' said Piotrkowski, a professor in the Graduate School of Social Services at Fordham University. 'And insofar as they participate in making the environment uncomfortable for others, they also may be making it uncomfortable for themselves.'

Though her results are preliminary, Piotrkowski says they?re 'a wake-up call' for companies to root out harassment that taints their entire culture. 'The hostile work environment doesn?t only victimize certain groups of people,' said Piotrkowski. 'It jeopardizes workers? commitment to their employer. We all pay for workplace harassment.' Other speakers at the conference said Piotrkowski?s results point to the strong influence of workplace culture on employees? mental health. And they called on social and behavioral science researchers to shed further light on the effects of work culture and climate on employees.

Linda Rosenstock, MD, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) said further research should not only address trends such as downsizing, increasing part-time work and reduced job security, but it should further clarify the effects of gender and racial harassment, given that more women and minorities are in the workplace. Piotrkowski?s study is an important step in that direction, said psychologist Steve Sauter, PhD, also of NIOSH and another conference speaker. Though harassment is already considered a serious problem, Piotrkowski?s finding that it spawns alienation across the workplace suggests it?s an even more insidious problem than researchers previously suspected, said Sauter.

Ripple effects

At first, Piotrkowski?s analysis, which was based on a study funded by NIOSH, focused exclusively on gender harassment among 385 white and minority women in administrative and clerical jobs at a municipal agency. Half the women reported satisfaction with their jobs, but gender harassment emerged as a significant job stressor for many of them. More than 70 percent of the women, both minority and white, had at some point in their jobs 'experienced or heard offensive slurs or jokes or remarks about women'?the study?s definition of gender harassment.

Those who felt most harassed tended to view their supervisors as prejudiced against women and tolerant of sexually biased slurs. And the more frequently women were harassed, the lower their job satisfaction and the higher their distress.

By comparison, women who?d never been harassed were least distressed and also happiest with their jobs. However, even a small dose of gender harassment jeopardizes women?s work and should be considered a serious occupational stressor in research, concluded Piotrkowski. (Her study appeared in the January issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 33?43.)

Curious whether the harassment affects only women or whether it chafes white and minority men as well, Piotrkowski decided to run a second (preliminary and as yet unpublished) data analysis of the male workers in the same agency as the women. To her surprise, the 113 minority men and 149 white men in her sample reported a level of workplace gender harassment that was similar to the level the women reported.

And, regardless of their race, when the men perceived their workplace as hostile toward women and minorities, they also reported less satisfaction with their jobs.

Hefty costs

The hostile work environment that results from harassment seriously hampers companies? productivity, said Piotrkowski.

The anxiety felt by harassed employees leads to distress?depressive symptoms and somatic complaints?in women, and somatic symptoms in minority men. In addition, the hostile work environment drains employee morale, she said. High turnover and employee absenteeism are likely.

While in her study, white men didn?t suffer from psychological and physical distress , they did report low job satisfaction and distrust for their employer. Witnessing the discrimination against their peers, they think to themselves, 'if you pick on them, when will you pick on me?' said psychologist James Campbell Quick, PhD, of the University of Texas?Arlington, commenting on Piotrkowski?s research at the conference. 'It makes everyone feel uncomfortable.'

Changing a hostile work atmosphere requires a change in the attitudes of leadership, but managers are often resistant, said Quick. Thus, he argued, further behavioral research on workplace culture is needed to convince employers of the damage harassment does, to show them how to stop it and to empower employees to rebound from it.