Research has demonstrated that customer sexual harassment (CSH) is a frequently occurring phenomenon and an apparent barrier to the career development of women (Gettman & Gelfand, 2007; Morganson & Major, 2008). The current study applies psychological contract theory toward understanding how CSH leads to adverse outcomes, which affect individuals and organizations. A sample of 420 working women including both students and full-time non-student workers from various organizations were recruited to participate in this online study. CSH and perceptions of employer obligation did not interact to predict psychological contract breach. As hypothesized, psychological contract breach and CSH interacted to predict affective organizational commitment. Contrary to expectations they did not interact to predict mental or physical health. Research implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Research has demonstrated that customer sexual harassment (CSH) is a frequently occurring phenomenon and an apparent barrier to the career development of women (Gettman & Gelfand, 2007; Morganson & Major, 2008). The current study applies psychological contract theory toward understanding how CSH leads to adverse outcomes, which affect individuals and organizations. A sample of 420 working women including both students and full-time non-student workers from various organizations were recruited to participate in this online study. CSH and perceptions of employer obligation did not interact to predict psychological contract breach. As hypothesized, psychological contract breach and CSH interacted to predict affective organizational commitment. Contrary to expectations they did not interact to predict mental or physical health. Research implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Morganson, Valerie J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Debra A. Major","Karin A. Orvis","Elaine M. Justice"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:25Z","subjects":["Customers","Sexual harassment","Career development","Women","Industrial and Organizational Psychology","Women's Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
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"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Line in the Sand: Understanding Customer Sexual Harassment Through a Psychological Contract Framework"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Debra A. Major","Karin A. Orvis","Elaine M. Justice"],"dc:creator":["Morganson, Valerie J."],"dc:date.available":["2019-04-02T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Research has demonstrated that customer sexual harassment (CSH) is a frequently occurring phenomenon and an apparent barrier to the career development of women (Gettman & Gelfand, 2007; Morganson & Major, 2008). The current study applies psychological contract theory toward understanding how CSH leads to adverse outcomes, which affect individuals and organizations. A sample of 420 working women including both students and full-time non-student workers from various organizations were recruited to participate in this online study. CSH and perceptions of employer obligation did not interact to predict psychological contract breach. As hypothesized, psychological contract breach and CSH interacted to predict affective organizational commitment. Contrary to expectations they did not interact to predict mental or physical health. Research implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["9780549738978","https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/101"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
"],"dc:subject":["Customers","Sexual harassment","Career development","Women","Industrial and Organizational Psychology","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["The Line in the Sand: Understanding Customer Sexual Harassment Through a Psychological Contract Framework"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:25Z"}