Shereen G. Bingham

Communication and connectedness in the classroom: Development of the connected classroom climate inventory

This article presents the rationale for and development of the Connected Classroom Climate Inventory (CCCI) designed to measure connectedness among students in the university classroom. The original inventory contained 20 items plus four validity items. Based on factor analysis and reliability analysis, two of the original 20 items were dropped from consideration. The resulting 18‐item CCCI scale was found to contain a single factor, to have an overall reliability of alpha = .94, and to show initial evidence of validity. The CCCI showed no scale score differences among class sections or based on teacher/student sex. These findings and implications for future communication research are discussed.

The Unexpected Effects of a Sexual Harassment Educational Program

This study evaluated a sexual harassment program for staff and faculty employees at a metropolitan university. One hundred men and 97 women who participated in the program and 141 men and 178 women who did not participate responded to a self-report questionnaire through campus mail. Analysis of variance was used to test for effects of program participation and employee gender on five outcome variables. Results indicated that participants showed more knowledge about sexual harassment than did nonparticipants and had a stronger attitude that sexual behavior at work is inappropriate. Men had more favorable attitudes toward sexual behavior at work than did women. Moreover, program participation and employee gender interacted, indicating an adverse reaction to the program among male participants. Male participants were less likely than other groups to perceive coercive sexual harassment, less willing to report sexual harassment, and more likely to blame the victim. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Communication strategies for managing sexual harassment in organizations: Understanding message options and their effects

Abstract This paper employs theoretical message frameworks from literature on assertiveness, intra‐organizational influence, and message design logic to present an interpersonal communication approach for managing sexual harassment in organizations. A multiple‐goals interpretation of the literature on sexual harassment is used to understand the situational features that make sexual harassment difficult to deflect through face‐to‐face communication. The discussion of situational features provides a general context for evaluating the potential effectiveness of message strategies that may be used to manage sexual harassment. The paper concludes with guidelines for developing education programs in organizations and with suggestions for research in the area.

The development of a sexual harassment proclivity scale: Construct validation and relationship to communication competence

This study focuses on developing, validating, and applying a self‐report measure of the proclivity to engage in sexually harassing behavior. The validity of the scale is demonstrated by its moderate correlations with attitude measures relevant to sexual harassment, its nonsignificant correlation with the need to provide socially desirable responses, and by showing that potential victims of sexual harassment view the included behaviors as harassing. Further, it was shown that college males indicating a higher proclivity to engage in sexual harassment were more suspicious of and apprehensive about dating, less satisfied with their dating activities, more anxious about communication, and found communication less rewarding.