Sexual harassment as unethical behavior The role of moral intensity Anne M. O'Leary-Kelly a, *, Lynn Bowes-Sperry b a Department of Management, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA b Western New England College, Springfield, MA, USA Abstract This article examines sexual harassment phenomena from an ethical perspective. Specifically, it argues that sexual harassment may occur less frequently if actors are encouraged to regard sexually harassing behavior as involving a moral component. Jones' work on moral intensity is used to describe reasons why, given the nature of sexual harassment phenomena, actors often may not recognize the moral aspects of harassing behavior. Finally, the implications of this perspective for the prevention of sexual harassment are discussed. D 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Sexual harassment; Sex discrimination; Ethics 1. Introduction An ethic can be defined as ``a principle of right or good conduct; a system of moral principle or values'' (American Heritage Dictionary, 1982). During the past half century, American society and its organizations have been struggling to develop systems and principles that distinguish and describe ethical and unethical work behavior. One of the most recent foci of this struggle has been the issue of sexual harassment. High profile cases, such as the Thomas-Hill hearings, Tailhook, incidents at the Citadel and US Army's Aberdeen facility, and legal action against Mitsubishi Motor and Astra AB's US pharma- ceutical subsidiary have brought this issue to the attention of the public and of researchers. In addition, the development of legal theory (e.g., MacKinnon, 1979) and a recognition by 1053-4822/01/$ ± see front matter D 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII:S1053-4822(00)00041-3 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-501-575-4566; fax: +1-501-575-3241. E-mail address: aokelly@walton.uark.edu (A.M. O'Leary-Kelly). www.HRmanagementreview.com Human Resource Management Review 11 (2001) 73±92