STRANGER HARASSMENT: an INVESTIGATION of the PROTECTIVE ROLE of FEMINISM and WOMANISM a Dissertation Presented to the Graduate F
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STRANGER HARASSMENT: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PROTECTIVE ROLE OF FEMINISM AND WOMANISM A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate Faculty at The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Megan J. Yetzer August, 2016 STRANGER HARASSMENT: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PROTECTIVE ROLE OF FEMINISM AND WOMANISM Megan Yetzer Dissertation Approved: Accepted: _____________________________ _____________________________ Advisor Department Chair Dr. Dawn Johnson Dr. Paul Levy _____________________________ _____________________________ Committee Member Dean of the College Dr. Kathryn Feltey Dr. John Green _____________________________ _____________________________ Committee Member Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Suzette Speight Dr. Chand Midha _____________________________ _____________________________ Committee Member Date Dr. David Tokar _____________________________ Committee Member Dr. Ingrid Weigold ii ABSTRACT Stranger harassment is a specific line of sexism research that documents women’s experiences of harassment in public spaces perpetrated by men that they do not know. These experiences can lead to many negative outcomes for women such as higher rates of body shame, body surveillance, depression, disordered eating, and increases in fear of rape (Fairchild & Rudman, 2008). The negative impacts of stranger harassment necessitate identifying what factors might be protective for women and reduce psychological distress. Data was collected from a total of 503 university students and community members. Path analysis revealed that none of the models demonstrated adequate model-data fit. Individual paths were examined in an effort to clarify trends within the data. Racial identity of the participants was observed to have a consistent impact on stranger harassment within all of the original and post hoc models. One additional finding observed with one model indicated that stranger harassing experiences did indeed result in high rates of psychological distress. It also became apparent that women experience stranger harassment often, as 90% of participants answered yes when they were asked if they had ever experienced catcalls, whistles, or stares from a stranger. Overall, between 25.8% - 90.1% of the women in the current study experienced some form of stranger harassment, ranging from sexist remarks or behaviors from a stranger (83.3%) to direct or explicit pressure to cooperate sexually from a stranger (25.8%). Thus preliminary evidence adds support to the literature base that stranger harassment is phenomenon warranting further study separate from more general sexual harassment iii research, and that a woman’s racial identity is likely to impact her experience of stranger harassment. It also points to the necessity for future research to investigate protective factors for reducing psychological distress. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1 Importance to the Field of Counseling Psychology .................................................2 Stranger Harassment Research & Impact of Stranger Harassment .........................4 Coping with Stranger Harassment ...........................................................................8 Identification as a Feminist and/or Womanist .......................................................10 Conclusion .............................................................................................................15 II. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ..........................................................................16 Sexism Literature Overview ..................................................................................16 Sexism Frequency and Negative Impacts ..............................................................22 Feminist Theory and Psychological Practice .........................................................35 The Protective Role of Feminism ..........................................................................44 The Feminist Label vs. Feminist Beliefs and Attitudes .........................................60 Conclusions Regarding Feminism’s Protective Role and Labeling vs. Beliefs ....69 The Inclusion of the Womanist Label ....................................................................70 Implications of Stranger Harassment .....................................................................75 v Conclusions of Stranger Harassment Literature ....................................................89 The Present Study ..................................................................................................89 III. METHODS .................................................................................................................94 Participants .............................................................................................................94 Procedures ..............................................................................................................95 Measures ................................................................................................................97 Demographic sheet.....................................................................................97 Stranger Harassment ..................................................................................97 Psychological Distress .............................................................................100 Feminist & Womanist Identification & Beliefs .......................................101 Empowerment ..........................................................................................107 Critical Consciousness Inventory ............................................................108 IV. RESULTS .................................................................................................................111 Data Cleaning and Missing Data .........................................................................111 Data Normality.....................................................................................................114 Descriptive Statistics, Intercorrelations, and Preliminary Analyses ....................117 Primary Analyses .................................................................................................121 Test of Hypothesized Direct Effects ....................................................................122 Post Hoc Models ..................................................................................................123 Test of Hypothesized Direct Effects for Post Hoc Models ..................................124 Models with Stranger Harassment Experiences Subscale ...................................126 V. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................128 Stranger Harassment and Psychological Distress – Hypothesis 1 .......................128 vi Feminist Identity, Feminist Beliefs, Womanist Beliefs – Hypothesis 2 ..............131 Critical Consciousness – Hypothesis 3 ................................................................132 Critical Consciousness and Psychological Distress – Hypothesis 4 ....................133 Critical Consciousness and Empowerment – Hypothesis 5 .................................134 Empowerment and Psychological Distress – Hypothesis 6 .................................135 Women of Color and Caucasian Women – Hypothesis 7 ....................................136 Clinical Implications ............................................................................................137 Limitations and Future Directions .......................................................................139 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................143 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................159 APPENDIX A. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ..........................................................160 APPENDIX B. DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE......................................163 APPENDIX C. STRANGER HARASSMENT INDEX .....................................168 APPENDIX D. HOPKINS SYMPTOM CHECKLIST – 21 ...............................170 APPENDIX E. PERSONAL PROGRESS SCALE – REVISED ........................172 APPENDIX F. FEMINIST IDENTITY ..............................................................174 APPENDIX G. FEMINIST BELIEFS .................................................................175 APPENDIX H. WOMEN OF COLOR PERSPECTIVE .....................................176 APPENDIX I. CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS INVENTORY .........................178 APPENDIX J. INFORMED CONSENT FORM.................................................180 APPENDIX K. IRB APPROVAL FOR RESEARCH WITH HUMAN SUBJECTS ..........................................................................................................182 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Participant Characteristics ...................................................................................116 2 Skewness and Kurtosis Values for All Scale Scores ...........................................117 3 Means, Standard Deviations, Cronbach’s