Predictors of Street Harassment Attitudes in British and Italian Men: Empathy and Social Dominance

Street harassment of women is a prevalent global problem with significant effects on thefreedom and well-being of its victims. Although research has investigated the consequences of this phenomenon, little is known about individual factors that predict street harassment tolerance in men. The current study investigates the role of cognitive empathy toward victims and social dominance orientation (SDO) on tolerance of street harassment in two European cultures. After being assessed for SDO and street harassment tolerance, 136 Italian and 113 British heterosexual men viewed a video of a woman repeatedly subjected to street harassment. Participants reported beliefs about the emotions experienced by the victim and were again assessed for street harassment. Results revealed that street harassment tolerance both before and after the video was independently associated with lower cognitive empathy and higher SDO. These effects replicated across the two cultures. These findings suggest two possible attitudinal and cognitive targets for reducing street harassment tolerance across societies.