Sexual Harassment and its Implication on Employee’s Performance in Sabah, Malaysia

Fauzie Sarjono, Marja Azlima Omar

Abstract


ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to identify the relationship between sexual harassment and its implication on employee’s performance in one of Sabah’s informal sector. The independent variables of this study are sexual coercion and sexual annoyance. In order to analyze the data, this study employs regression analysis. Likert Scale is in turn used to measure the respondents’ perceptions on sexual harassment at workplace. Survey and interview are the other two methods used in this study. The findings show that there is a significant relationship in a negative direction between sexual harassment and employees’ performance. In other words, sexual harassment at work place does profoundly affect workers’ performances. This study also finds that gender plays a significant factor as female respondents tend to indicate particularly higher regards on sexual harassment. It is hoped that the findings of this study could contribute to alleviate if not to resolve the problems of sexual harassment at workplace. In the concluding remarks, this paper seeks to outline some suggestions to improve employees’ efficacy in the organization which performance is hampered by occurrence of sexual harassment.

Key words: sexual harassment, employee’s performance, Sabah’s informal sector, and improve employees’ efficacy.

===

About the Author: Fauzie Sarjono and Marja Azlima Omar are Lecturers at the Industrial Relation Programme, School of Social Sciences UMS (University of Malaysia Sabah), Locked Bag 2073, 88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. For academic purposes, they can be reached at: fauzie@ums.edu.my and marjalina@asia.com

How to cite this article? Sarjono, Fauzie & Marja Azlima Omar. (2010). “Sexual Harassment and its Implication on Employee’s Performance in Sabah, Malaysia” in SOSIOHUMANIKA: Jurnal Pendidikan Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Vol.3, No.1 [Mei], pp.95-108. Bandung, Indonesia: Minda Masagi Press, UNIPA Surabaya, and UMS Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, ISSN 1979-0112.

Chronicle of article: Accepted (February 19, 2010); Revised (March 23, 2010); and Published (May 20, 2010).


Full Text:

PDF

References


Article “Table Bill on Sexual Harassment” in New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: 11 February 2002.

Article “Providing Harassment Credibility” in New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: 15 April 2006.

Article “It’s in the Best Interest of the Workers” in New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: 12 September 2008.

Article “Not All are Covered by Act” in New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: 15 September 2008.

Backhouse C. & L. Cohen. (1981). The Secret Oppression: Sexual Harassment of Working Women. Toronto: Macmillan.

Beehr, T.A. & J.E. Newman. (1978). “Job Stress, Employee Health and Organizational Effectiveness: A Facet Analysis, Model and Literature Review” in Personnel Psychology, 31, pp.665-669.

Earnshaw, J. & M.J. Davidson. (1994). “Remedying Sexual Harassment via Industrial Tribunal Claims: An Investigation of the Legal and Psychological Process” in Personnel Review, 23(8), pp.3-16.

Farley, L. (1978). Sexual Shakedown: The Sexual Harassment of Women on the Job. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Firestone, J.M. & R.J. Harris. (1999). ”Changes in Patterns of Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military: A Comparison of the 1988 and 1995” in Armed Forces & Society, 25(4), pp.614-634.

Fitzegerald, L.F. & A.J. Ormerod. (1993). Breaking the Silence: The Sexual Harassment of Women in Academic and the Workplace. New York: Greenwood Press.

Fitzegerald, L.F. & S.L. Shullman. (1993). ”Sexual Harassment: A Research Analysis and Agenda for the 1990” in Journal of Vocational Education, 42, pp.5-27.

Gruber, J. & M. Smith. (1995). “Women’s Responses to Sexual Harassment: Multi Variate Analysis” in Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 17(4), pp. 543-562.

Gutek, B. (1985). ”The Impact of Male Work Environments and Organization Policies on Women’s Experiences of Sexual Harassment” in Gender and Society, 12(3), pp.301-321.

Hilary, Walmsley. (1994). Counseling Technique for Manager. London, Kogan Page Limited.

Katz, D. & R.L. Kahn. (1966). The Social Psychology of Organizations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Konrad, A.M. & B. Gutek. (1986). “Impact of Work Experience on Attitudes toward Sexual Harassment” in Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 31, pp.442-438.

Livingston, J.A. (1982). “Responses to Sexual Harassment on the Job: Legal, Organizational and Individual Action” in Journal of Social Issues, 38, pp.5-22.

MacKinnon, C.A. (1979). Sexual Harassment of Working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination. New Haven, Conn: Yale University.

Malovich, N.J. & J.E. Stake. (1990). ”Sexual Harassment on Campus: Individual Differences in Attitudes and Beliefs” in Psychology of Women Quarterly, 14, pp.63-81.

Mazer, D.B. & E.F. Perceival. (1989). ”Ideology or Experience? The Relationship among Perception, Attitudes and Experiences of Sexual Harassment in University Student” in Sex Roles, 20, pp.135-147.

McKenna, E. (1994). Business Psychology and Organizational Behavior. Lawrence: Erlbaum.

Mello, J.A. (2006). Strategic Human Resources Management. Thomson South-Western: Towson University, Second Edition.

Stokedale, M.S. (1993). ”The Role of Sexual Misperceptions of Women’s Friendliness in an Emerging Theory of Sexual Harassment” in Journal at Vocational Behavior, 42, pp.84-101.

Tangri, S.S. & S.M. Hayes. (1997). “Theories of Sexual Harassment” in W. O’Donohue [ed]. Sexual Harassment: Theory, Research and Treatment. Thomson South-Western: Towson University, pp.185-198.

Tengku Omar Tengku Bot & Maimunah Aminuddin. (2000). A Guide to the Malaysian Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Kuala Lumpur: Leeds Publications.

Tepestra, D.A. & D.D. Baker. (1986). ”A Framework for the Study of Sexual Harassment” in Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 7, pp.17-34.

Vaux, A. Feb. (1993). ”Paradigmatic Assumptions in Sexual Harassment Research: Being Guided without Being Misted” in Journal of Vocational Behavior, 42(10), pp.116-136.

Wagner, E.J. (1992). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: How to Prevent, Investigate and Resolve Problem in Your Organization. N. Y. AMACOM: American Management Association.

Zulkarnain Hj. Awang. (2003). “The perception of Sexual Harassment” in Management Journal, Vol.6, No.1.




SOSIOHUMANIKA: Jurnal Pendidikan Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan is published by Minda Masagi Press. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0.