Sexualized Perception and Employee Onboarding
Sexualized perception is an individual's tendency to view their surroundings through the lens of sexuality, including one's own, others', and those perceived as different from oneself. It can influence employee onboarding, integration, and social adaptation due to its impact on psychological processes and social dynamics.
Onboarding refers to the process of introducing new hires to an organization, its culture, and team members, preparing them for effective work, and setting expectations. When employees join a company, they are often exposed to gendered attitudes, behaviors, norms, interactions, hierarchies, roles, or power dynamics. They may observe how coworkers interact with each other romantically, sexually, flirtatiously, or suggestively, which may make them feel uneasy if they perceive it negatively or differently than what they expect. The resulting cognitive dissonance can affect emotional reactions like anxiety, awkwardness, embarrassment, or stress, influencing assimilation into the group.
Newcomers may fear being judged based on their appearance, dress code, mannerisms, tone of voice, body language, or gestures, especially when they consider these related to sexual attractiveness, desirability, or acceptability in this environment. This could lead to withdrawal, isolation, or non-participation in social activities or professional exchanges, which would impair integration.
Integration relates to the degree to which individuals integrate themselves into their new workplace by forming connections, building relationships, contributing to tasks, learning knowledge, skills, or values, adhering to norms, customs, and practices, or demonstrating commitment to the organization. Sexualized perception can complicate interpersonal communication because it creates misinterpretations, assumptions, biases, and stereotypes that influence how people approach and relate to one another.
Some employees might associate physical contact or closeness with intimacy, while others may interpret it as harassment or inappropriate behavior. These differences could cause conflict, resentment, distrust, or alienation from team members who have different views. It may also hinder teamwork, collaboration, cooperation, participation, cohesion, or productivity, slowing down adaptation to the new job.
Social adaptation refers to an individual's ability to adjust socially to a novel context by adopting behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, or identities consistent with the surrounding culture. New employees may find it challenging to navigate cultural norms if they feel pressured to conform to them based on gendered expectations of sexuality, romance, or relationship formation within the company. They may experience rejection, stigma, discrimination, or microaggressions due to their perceived deviation from such standards or engagement in them. This impacts self-perception, identity development, belongingness, social acceptance, or performance, potentially leading to burnout, turnover, or quitting.
Sexualized perception has far-reaching implications for employee onboarding, integration, and social adaptation, influencing psychological processes and dynamics related to cognition, emotions, attributions, relationships, group membership, and personal identity.
In what ways does sexualized perception affect onboarding, integration, and social adaptation of new employees?
Sexualization is defined as the act of perceiving someone as an object of sexual desire, typically based on their physical appearance (Harris & Jensen, 2018). When individuals are sexually objectified in this way, they may experience negative effects on various levels. One such effect is reduced self-worth, which can make it difficult for them to feel confident and competent in professional settings.