Introduction: Although previous studies confirm links between objectification of women and tolerance of sexual harassment, but these relations still are understudied in the context of social networking sites (SNS) (Galdi & Guizzo, 2021; Ligman et al., 2024). Considering that women are more likely to be sexually objectified and sexually harassed by heterosexual men, it is important to fill-in the gap of knowledge how prevalent is tolerance of sexual harassment on SNS among heterosexual adult men, considering their individual characteristics as well as their tendency to sexually objectify women.
The aim of the study was to reveal links between tendency to sexually objectify women and tolerance of sexual harassment on SNS, in a sample of adult heterosexual men.
Method: 109 heterosexual Lithuanian men, aged 18-65 (mean age 25.6 years) participated in the online study. The study questionnaire consisted of the Sexual-Other Objectification Scale (Bloom, Tavakoli, & Romito, 2024), four vignettes purposely created by the authors to assess tolerance of sexual harassment on SNS and the short version of the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (Paulhus, 1991). The study participants were also asked some socio-demographic and SNS use related questions.
Results: The study results revealed no significant age, education, time spend on SNS or marital status differences in heterosexual men to sexually objectify women. There were also no statistically significant differences in tolerance of sexual harassment on SNS by participants' age or education, but single men were more likely to tolerate sexual harassment than those with a romantic partner. A positive strong association was found between sexual objectification and tolerance of sexual harassment on SNS.
Conclusions: These findings highlight the need to target tendency to sexually objectify women while implementing prevention strategies working with heterosexual men, as this phenomenon is closely linked to greater tolerance of sexual harassment on SNS.