Responsibility, Mental Contamination, and Sexual Harassment

This study examined the impact of responsibility on feelings of mental contamination. Undergraduate participants listened to a recording of workplace sexual harassment. Some participants were told to imagine themselves as the victim (vs. watching the harassment take place on tv), and some participants were told their behaviour contributed to the harassment (vs. did not contribute). Results showed that sexual harassment (vs. assault) was sufficient to provoke feelings of mental contamination. The only significant group differences were between those who imagined themselves as the victim (vs. watching the harassment on television). The presence/absence of victim blaming did not lead to differences in mental contamination. Findings suggest that people’s perceptions of personal violation may be more central to mental contamination than perceptions of responsibility.