Reactions to Stories of Physical Sexual Harassment: The Effect of Gender of the Victim and Perpetrator on Empathy, Perceived Agency, and Assigned Punishment

Leeuw, Sanne Nena, de (2025) Reactions to Stories of Physical Sexual Harassment: The Effect of Gender of the Victim and Perpetrator on Empathy, Perceived Agency, and Assigned Punishment. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

The present study (N = 341) employed a 2x2 between-subjects design to investigate how the gender of the victim and the gender of the perpetrator influenced reactions to a sexual harassment scenario. The independent variables were the gender of the victim (female vs. male) and the gender of the perpetrator (female vs. male), resulting in four randomized experimental conditions. The primary aim was to assess the independent and combined effects of these factors on the dependent measures: empathy for the victim, perceived agency of the victim and preferred punishment for the perpetrator. Additionally, a moderated mediation model assessed whether the interaction between victim and perpetrator gender influenced empathy and punishment through perceived agency. Hypotheses were grounded in the Social Role Theory, the Stereotype Content Model, and stereotypes rooted in Rape Myths. Results showed that participants expressed significantly more empathy for female victims than male victims. Punishment, particularly harsher punishment, was preferred when the victim was female as compared to male. Harsher punishments were also preferred when the perpetrator was male as compared to female perpetrators. However, no significant effects of victim or perpetrator gender were found on perceived agency, and none of the predicted interaction effects reached significance. The moderated mediation model was also unsupported. These findings suggest that victim and perpetrator gender influence emotional and punitive responses to sexual harassment, showing a bias toward greater empathy for female victims and harsher penalties in cases involving female victims, and cases involving male perpetrators.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Borinca, I. and Greijdanus, H.J.E.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Applied Social Psychology (ASP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	17 Sep 2025 09:58
Last Modified:	17 Sep 2025 09:58
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5927

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