Sex Roles, Vol. 50, Nos. 11/12, June 2004 ( C  2004) Simple and Joint Effects of Gender and Self-Esteem on Responses to Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Caren Goldberg 1,2 and Lu Zhang 1 In a sample of 431 white-collar professionals, we examined the impact of gender and self- esteem on individuals’ intentions to seek legal counsel, confront the harasser, and make formal reports within the organization in response to approach-based same-sex sexual harassment. We hypothesized that gender, self-esteem, and their interaction would be related to assertive responses. All three hypotheses received support: men were more likely than women to re- spond assertively; self-esteem was positively related to response intentions; and self-esteem had a greater impact on men’s responses than on women’s responses. These results suggest that frameworks used to describe responses to cross-sex sexual harassment may not be adequate for same-sex sexual harassment. Post hoc analyses revealed that perceiving the behavior as harassment mediated the relationship between self-esteem and the responses to harassment, but did not mediate the relationships between gender and the responses to harassment. These findings contribute to the research on acknowledging sexual harassment. KEY WORDS: sexual harassment; same-sex sexual harassment; self-esteem and sexual harassment; responses to sexual harassment. The Supreme Court ruled in Oncale v. Sundowner (1998) that social–sexual behavior directed toward a person of the same sex should be tried using the same standards used in cross-sex sexual harassment (CSSH) cases. The legal criteria include whether the behavior is motivated by the gen- der of the victim, whether it is unwelcome, whether it is repetitive, and whether it could lead to negative psychological or organizational outcomes. The first criterion was the strongest determinant in the Oncale case, suggesting that the decision could apply to both hostile environment harassment and quid pro quo claims. However, as the stream of theoretical (Cleveland & Kerst, 1993; Lach & Gwartney-Gibbs, 1993; O’Leary-Kelly, Paetzold, & Griffin, 2000) and empirical (Fitzgerald, Drasgow, Hulin, Gelfand, & Magley, 1997; Gutek & Cohen, 1987; Gutek, Cohen, 1 Department of Management Science, George Washington Uni- versity, Washington, District of Columbia. 2 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Depart- ment of Management Science, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia 20052; e-mail: careng@gwu.edu. & Konrad, 1990) literature on CSSH has grown con- siderably over the years to date, very little empirical research has examined same-sex sexual harassment (SSSH) outcomes. This study fills this void, through an examination of whether two predictors of CSSH criteria are related to reactions to same-sex social– sexual behavior. In particular, as the Oncale decision is apt to influence the legal landscape, we focused on the impact of gender and gender context on intention to seek legal counsel in response to SSSH. However, given that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1990) indicates that “the charging party’s claim will be considerably strengthened if she made a contemporaneous complaint or protest,” we also examined intention to report the situation formally to someone within the organization and intention to confront the perpetrator. Gender Effects Gender has been among the most widely studied predictors of individuals’ perceptions of social–sexual 823 0360-0025/04/0600-0823/0 C  2004 Plenum Publishing Corporation