Workplace Harassment: Power, Not Desire, Drives It, Study Finds

• New research compares two theories on workplace sexual harassment: evolutionary psychology (desire-driven) vs. gender hierarchy (power-driven).
• The study concludes that the gender hierarchy maintenance explanation is a clearer winner, offering a better scientific understanding.
• Gender hierarchy theory explains a broader range of harassment phenomena, including gender harassment (sexist jokes, remarks) which is the most common form.
• Evolutionary psychology's core prediction about ancestral reproductive success is untestable, limiting its scientific fruitfulness.
• Gender hierarchy maintenance offers more effective interventions, such as flattening organizational hierarchies and decoupling status from masculinity, unlike ineffective awareness training.