Extending Bystander Intervention Prevention Models from College Campuses to the Workplace, United States, 2022 (ICPSR 38659)
Version Date: Oct 12, 2023 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Sarah McMahon, Rutgers University
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38659.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
In this exploratory study, the research team examined factors such as power dynamics and social identity that affect a bystander's (individuals who directly or indirectly witness harassment, discrimination, or another form of violence happening to someone else) decision to intervene in events of harassment and discrimination at their workplace. The specific objectives of this study were to: (1) Understand the environment in which workplace harassment and discrimination occurs by analyzing the frequencies of individual events by type and location; (2) Assess contextual variables influencing bystander decisions through analyses of bystander interpretations of the event of harassment/discrimination and motivations for inaction/action; and (3) Contextualize bystander responses by understanding how the workplace environment and the bystander's assessment of power and identities of those involved interplay. The project used a survey design with quantitative data collected from employed adults in the United States (n=1,484) via Qualtrics online survey.
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Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
None
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
- This project was conducted in collaboration with the Rutgers Violence Against Women Research Consortium (VAWRC). For more information on the Consortium project, please visit the VAWRC website.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this project was to explore whether bystander intervention education models used to address interpersonal violence on college campuses can be modified to address workplace harassment.
Study Design View help for Study Design
Participants were recruited through the Qualtrics Panel service to complete a cross-sectional online survey. The survey was distributed in summer 2022. Upon survey completion, participants were compensated through a point/reward system used by Qualtrics.
Sample View help for Sample
Inclusion criteria were U.S. residence, current employment, and being at least 18 years old. Individuals were excluded if they were unable to consent or to understand English. Sampling quotas were used to ensure a diverse sample by race/ethnicity and income level. The final sample was 1,484 participants, with 1,309 complete observations.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Employed adults in the United States recruited via Qualtrics Research Panel Service.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
Participants were asked if they had ever witnessed harassment and/or discrimination happening to another coworker in the past 12 months. For each type of incident, participants were asked to specify frequency of occurrence and where incidents took place (in-person, online, at a work-related event). Types of incidents included:
- Disrespect
- Disregard or being ignored
- Hostility
- Jokes at the victim's expense
- Being sent offensive material
- Unfair accusations of incompetence
- Lower than deserved evaluations
- Having promotion, networking, or mentorship opportunities withheld
- Being subject to excessive monitoring
- Given an unmanageable workload
- Exclusion from activities
- Having their work undermined or credit not attributed
- Having their character unfairly questioned or judgment doubted
Participants were asked to consider one incident they witnessed over the past 12 months that impacted them the most and answered items on the type of incident that occurred, what they believed the victim's harassment/discrimination was based on, gender and work role of the transgressor, the participant's response, why they chose or did not choose to respond, and how the transgressor and victim each responded to the participant's intervention.
Demographic variables included age (year born), annual household income, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and education level. Items specific to employment included employment arrangement (full-time, part-time, contract, internship), hourly or salary status, length of time working for current employer, industry, and job satisfaction.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Not available.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
Workplace Incivility Scale (Cortina et al., 2001), with supplemental items used in Cortina et al. (2013)
ARC3 Faculty/Staff Campus Climate Survey (ARC3, 2015)
Adaptations from the Michigan State University Know More campus climate survey
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2023-10-12
Version History View help for Version History
2023-10-12 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.
This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.