judgements of guilt in sexual harassment suits were associated with physical attractiveness. Subjects in the study (71 male and 74 female undergraduates) were required to evaluate guilt in cases where the researchers varied the gender and the physical attractiveness of both the complainant and the accused.
The highest level of guilty judgements were found in cases where the complainant was attractive and the accused was unattractive. Also, males rated attractive complainants more warm and sincere than unattractive complainants. Females rated complainants high in warmth and sincerity regardless of their attractiveness levels. This study clearly indicates that physical attractiveness can have a mitigating influence on gender-based perceptions of sexual harassment.
Concerning men's stronger proclivity to attribute the complaint of sexual harassment to characteristics of the complainant rather than to actual sexual harassment, some research has examined whether males view opposite sex interactions differently than do females. This question was researched by Johnson, Stockdale
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