Belief in Token Resistance and Type of Resistance as Predictors of Men's Perceptions of Date Rape

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between men's degree of belief in token resistance to sexual advances—that women say no when they mean yes—and the perception that date rape has occurred. We hypothesized that men who more strongly adhere to this belief would be less likely to perceive that a rape had occurred when a woman was forced to engage in coitus and she had only verbally resisted the advances of the male (compared to physically resisting), whereas men who do not hold this belief would perceive rape to have occurred when either verbal or physical resistance was offered. Undergraduate men (N = 332) completed scales measuring several predispositional constructs, read a scenario involving a date rape, and answered questions concerning the scenario. Those with a stronger belief in token resistance perceived less date rape overall, and they were less sensitive to verbal refusal than those with a weaker belief. The possibility that combined verbal and physical resistance may send a mixed message to men wh...