Chang, Yun-Ling (2022-09). The Perception and Experience of Sexual Harassment among Female Chinese International Students and Their Relationships with Cultural Factors and Depression. Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis
Sexual harassment has long been and continues to be a critical issue on U.S. university campuses. While many studies have examined sexual harassment as it is experienced by female university students, there is a dearth of research specifically investigating female Chinese international student perceptions and experience of sexual harassment. The main purpose of this study was to gather data about how female Chinese international students experience sexual harassment and examine the relationships between Asian cultural values, acculturation, the perception and experience of sexual harassment, and depression in this population. In accordance with two multi-dimensional models of sexual harassment and the Theory of Cultural Dimensions, we hypothesized that female Chinese international students would perceive and identify more sexually harassing behaviors when they adhered less strictly to Asian cultural values and had resided in the United States for a longer period, and that they would report fewer depressive symptoms resulting from experiencing sexual harassment when they perceived more harassing behaviors. 102 female Chinese international student participants recruited from 42 universities completed a Qualtrics-based survey that consisted of a set of instruments measuring their perception of sexual harassment behaviors, adherence to Asian cultural values, the frequency of the harassing behaviors they experienced, and the depressive symptoms they reported related to their experiences of being sexually harassed. Our findings concluded that none of the four Asian cultural values significantly influenced participant perceptions of sexual harassment, and that length of time residing in the U.S. (a proxy for acculturation) did not moderate the relationships between them. The perception of sexual harassment was not found to significantly moderate the relationship between the experience of sexual harassment and depression, but our findings did reveal that the experience of sexual harassment is significantly and positively associated with depressive symptoms among female Chinese international students. The implications of our findings, and directions for future study of this important topic are discussed in detail.
