Sexual harassment is a common experience among middle and high school students across the United States. Being the target of and even witnessing sexual harassment is associated with a number of negative consequences for adolescents. This study sought to explore early adolescent boys’ and girls’ reasoning about (a) perpetrating sexual harassment (i.e., making comments about another student’s body), (b) confronting sexual harassment when they are the target, and (c) confronting sexual harassment when they are the bystander or witness. Participants were 142 seventh-grade students (46 boys, 96 girls) ranging from 11 to 14 years old (Mage = 12.44 years, SDage = .61). Utilizing a quantitative content analysis, this study analyzed themes that emerged from adolescents’ open-ended responses to questions about sexual harassment and their perception of the consequences. The results suggest that adolescents’ reasoning about sexual harassment is complex, reflecting morality concerns, social pressures, and challenges with interpreting sexual interest within a context of sexually objectifying cultural scripts.

性骚扰是全美中学生的普遍经历。成为甚至是目睹性骚扰的目标，都会给青少年带来许多负面影响。这项研究旨在探讨青春期男孩和女孩在以下方面的推理：（a）进行性骚扰（即对另一名学生的尸体发表评论），（b）当他们成为目标时面对性骚扰，以及（c）面对性骚扰当他们是旁观者或见证者时。参与者为142位7年级学生（46位男孩，96位女孩），年龄在11至14岁之间（M年龄= 12.44岁，SD年龄= 0.61）。这项研究利用定量内容分析，分析了青少年对性骚扰及其后果的不限成员名额回答中出现的主题。结果表明，青少年对性骚扰的推理很复杂，反映了道德问题，社会压力以及在具有客观性的文化脚本中解释性兴趣的挑战。