Voy a tocarte toa: preferences for sexist music and sexist attitudes predict unwanted sexual attention harassment (Voy a tocarte toa: las preferencias para la música sexista y las actitudes sexistas predicen atención sexual no deseada)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The music genres reggaeton and dembow have attained worldwide popularity. Their song lyrics and music videos often display sexually explicit contents, conveying the sexual objectification and degradation of women. To test possible effects of this content on sexually harassing behaviour, Dominican males were randomly assigned to watch reggaeton music videos (n = 34), dembow music videos (n = 31) or no videos (n = 32). Afterwards, two forms of sexually harassing behaviour towards a (computer-simulated) woman, gender harassment and unwanted sexual attention, were assessed using a computer chat paradigm. Participants’ short-term mating orientation, hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes, acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA), music preferences and previous exposure to sexist music were also assessed. Results did not show any effects of the music video manipulation on harassing behaviour but revealed correlational links among music preferences, short-term mating orientation, AMMSA, sexist attitudes and displays of unwanted sexual attention. Results are discussed in relation to previous research on the effects of music and attitudinal predictors of sexual harassment conducted in Europe and the USA.