With the help of social movements and media coverage, people are increasingly aware of the scope and harm of sexual harassment. To help both the public and the academia better understand the issue, this current study aims to examine the effects of neutralization techniques on attitude toward sexual harassment. Using an original dataset of 2,150 college students in both China and the U.S., the present research finds sex to be the most important factor in predicting people's tolerance of sexual harassment behaviors. Student internationality also shows evident effect, where Chinese international students hold significantly higher level of acceptance of sexual harassment behaviors compared to all others. Further analyses suggest that some techniques of neutralization, such as denial of victim and appeal to higher loyalties, hold significant influences on people's attitudes toward sexual harassment behaviors, and can be more closely associated with sexual harassment than other techniques. However, whether one has participated in relevant training programs does not significantly change how much they think sexual harassment is socially acceptable. Practical implications, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.
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