Insecure men act indecently

This trait is not present in women in positions of power, claims research

Men in positions of power who sexually harass their subordinates could be acting in this way because they “fear being judged as incompetent”, scientists claim.

There has been no dearth of mighty men accused and convicted of sexual harassment within the last year.

According to new research, men in highpowered jobs will typically harbour insecurities about their competency and worthiness in the eyes of others.

These concerns about their own performance, leads men to abuse their power by sexually harassing others.

Researchers found the trait was not present in women in similar positions of power.

Researchers found “fearing that others will perceive you as incompetent is a better predictor of sexual harassment than your self- perceived incompetence”.

Harvey Weinstein has been charged with multiple accounts of sexual assault and rape in the first- and third- degree

Following the success of campaigns, including # MeToo and # TimesUp, there is more awareness of the abuse suffered by women at the hands of powerful men.

However, our understanding of why this occurs remains largely unknown.

Ohio scientists Leah Halper and Kimberly Rios looked into the reasons behind the behaviour and what caused it.

According to their findings, sexual gratification was not the main driver behind the behaviour — but instead, the self- doubt often found in high- powered men.

“Fearing that others will perceive you as incompetent is a better predictor of sexual harassment than your self- perceived incompetence,” explains Dr Halper.

' The findings also suggest that men do not necessarily sexually harass women because they seek sexual gratification, but rather because their insecurity about being perceived as incompetent prompts them to want to undermine a woman’s position in the social hierarchy,” added Dr Rios.

They found that most studies about sexual harassment focus on the characteristics of the victims, and how they experience and deal with the harassment, instead of the triggers in the perpetrator.

Dr Halper and Dr Rios conducted three different studies using a combination of adults and college students. Some of these studies included only men, while others included both sexes.

In one study, 273 men had to imagine themselves in the position of a male employer who was in a position of power over a female employee or interviewee.

These men were asked to indicate whether they would ask for sexual favours in return for securing her a job, a promotion, or some other jobrelated benefit.

Participants had to answer questions that measured their selfesteem and how narcissistic they were, as well as how important they viewed the opinions of others.

The results of the study support the notion that powerful men are inclined to sexually harass others when they worry that they will be perceived as incompetent.

This deep rooted flaw in a masculine confidence was consistently found to predict sexual harassment among men in powerful positions.