Two papers provide background information on the issue of sexual harassment; one provides an overview of the topics to be discussed in subsequent papers in this issue, and the other reviews the evolution of research on gender stereotypes. Three papers consider matters pertinent to defining and measuring sexual harassment. Topics discussed are social science research on lay definitions of sexual harassment, the use of surveys to assess the prevalence of sexual harassment, and reconstructing the experience of sexual harassment. Three article on the intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics of sexual harassment present a social psychological model for predicting sexual harassment, nonconscious sources of sexual harassment, and a theory that explains how ambivalence and stereotypes cause sexual harassment. Individual and organizational responses to sexual harassment are discussed in two papers; they address the psychological and legal implications of women's responses to sexual harassment, as well as a longitudinal study of women managers that focuses on sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Three articles consider the legal applications of research. Topics are the empirical basis for the reasonable woman standard, social analytic jurisprudence in sexual harassment litigation, and the courtroom use and misuse of gender stereotyping research. References accompany each paper