Hello and welcome back to the savvy psychologist.

I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with

evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

From Bill Cosby to Bill O'Reilly to all of Uber to Harvey Weinstein,

sexual harassment is as rampant as it is repugnant.

And we wonder, what are they thinking?

How could anyone do that?

But aside from a few legal team filtered statements, we don't have much of an insight into the

mind of accused harassers.

So this week, let's examine the psychology of sexual harassment and to start off

let's define exactly what we're talking about. So what is sexual harassment? Well a common myth is that sexual harassment is just a few steps down the continuum from

sexual assault, but it's not that simple.

What specifies sexual harassment is that it's tied to power structures in employment and career advancement.

The harasser holds the keys and creates a catch-22 for the victim, either submit and be exploited or resist and be punished.

It's a no-win situation of power, control, and intimidation.

Therefore, sexual harassment can and does include demeaning comments, requests for sexual favors,

unwanted sexual advances, but importantly can also include sexual assault, which is any non-consensual or coerced sexual act including

sexual touching.

Okay, harassment is also different than unwanted sexual attention, which consists of unwelcome comons and comments

that are not primarily designed to demean and intimidate. Think terrible pickup lines.

Therefore, do you work at a subway?

Because you just gave me a foot long,

...