“Betcha it won't happen to me”: Self‐assessments of the projected occurrence of under‐age sexual experiences1

Abstract

This project assessed the impact of the nature and frequency of sexual acts, experienced while legally under‐age and a victim, upon the projected rates of occurrence, for the same sexual acts, for people of the same age and gender. University students (376) were asked to indicate their own experiences with a variety of sexual activities before the age of sixteen and were also asked to project the extent to which these activities were experienced by others. Consistently, those who experienced an underage sexual activity projected higher rates of occurrence than those who did not have the experience, demonstrating a sense of universal vulnerability. Implications for victimology and victimization are discussed.