How do sexual harassment policies shape gender beliefs? An exploration of the moderating effects of norm adherence and gender

• I examine how sexual harassment policy training affects gender beliefs.
• Gender norm conformity moderates effect of policy training on beliefs.
• Male conformists rate women as less nice and competent after policy training.
• Women non-conformists rate women as less nice and virtuous after policy training.
• Findings have implications for theory and policy.

Sexual harassment laws have led to important organizational changes in the workplace yet research continues to document resistance to their implementation and backlash against the people who mobilize such laws. Employing experimental research methods, this study proposes and tests a theory specifying the mechanisms through which sexual harassment policies affect gender beliefs. The findings show evidence that sexual harassment policies strengthen unequal gender beliefs among men and women most committed to traditional gender interaction norms. I also find that men and women’s different structural locations in the status hierarchy lead to different, but related sets of concerns about the status threats posed by sexual harassment policies. By specifying the social psychological processes through which sexual harassment law affects beliefs about men and women, this study sets the stage for investigating ways to make laws designed to reduce inequality between social groups more effective.