Sophie Hudspith

Workplace power and gender dynamics may shape how individuals interpret ambiguous behaviours as potentially conveying sexual intent. To examine these influences, we conducted two studies using the Workplace Sexual Intent Scale (WSIS): an initial pilot study (N = 112) and a larger follow-up with a Prolific sample (N = 309). Together, these studies explored how gender and relative power affect perceptions of sexual intent in cross-gender workplace interactions. After randomly assigning participants to a higher-, lower-, or equal-power condition and instructing them to recall a colleague of a different gender in that role, we then asked them to rate how much sexual intent they would perceive if that colleague enacted 30 ambiguous behaviours towards them. The results revealed a gender difference consistent with prior findings: women perceived greater sexual intent from male colleagues’ ambiguous behaviours than men did from female colleagues. This gender difference was influenced by participants’ relative power, with the most pronounced effect observed in the lower-power condition, where women perceived the most intent and men the least. Although this interaction reached significance only in the pilot study, the same pattern emerged across both studies. Three-way interactions with Dominance Motivation, Emotionality, and Contingencies of Self-Worth were examined, but no significant effects were found (although the patterns were in line with our hypotheses).