Enhancing Bystander Intervention in Sexual Harassment Through Brief Empathy Training

Sexual harassment (SH) persists as a significant barrier to healthy, productive work environments, particularly in male-dominated fields like academia and industry. Traditional compliance-based training often yields limited behavioral change, especially among men, highlighting the need for innovative approaches that foster empathy and proactive intervention. This presentation reports on two studies testing a brief, scalable empathy training module designed to enhance bystander intentions by promoting perspective-taking and emotional connection to SH victims. Grounded in empathy theory (Batson et al., 1997; Decety & Jackson, 2004), the module uses narrative reflection on real SH incidents to cultivate empathic concern and moral motivation, aligning with the conference theme by emphasizing human-centric strategies to optimize performance in digitally monitored workplaces—where AI tools may detect misconduct, but human empathy drives effective, supportive responses. In both studies, U.S. adults were recruited via CloudResearch Connect and randomized to conditions. The SH empathy training prompted participants to recall a real SH incident, retell it in first-person perspective, identify short- and long-term consequences, and reflect on evoked emotions. Study 1 (N=257) compared this to burglary empathy training (non-SH empathy control) and time management training (non-empathy control). Measures included empathic concern/distress (Batson et al., 1997), sense of oneness (Aron et al., 1992), and bystander intentions (Liang & Park, 2022). Study 2 (N=251) refined comparisons to standard SH compliance training (covering definitions, boundaries, and power dynamics) and a waitlist control, adding state empathy (Powell & Roberts, 2017) and perspective-taking for SH (Ventura et al., 2021) scales, plus social desirability checks. Study 1 found no significant condition differences but positive correlations between empathy and bystander intentions, with women reporting higher empathy and intentions. Study 2 revealed that SH empathy training significantly increased state empathy and perspective-taking over standard training and control, mediating higher bystander intentions (explaining 24-32% variance). Gender differences persisted in baseline empathy, but training effects were equivalent across genders. These results underscore empathy training's potential to supplement compliance programs, fostering proactive cultures that enhance employee engagement and performance amid AI-driven monitoring. Limitations include self-report reliance and short-term assessment; future work should test behavioral outcomes and longevity. This 60-minute interactive session, including Q&A, will discuss practical implications for I-O professionals, offering evidence-based tools to build resilient, human-focused workplaces.