Women’s expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances: Associations with sexual victimization.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between women's prior sexual victimization and their expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances. METHOD: Sixty-five female undergraduate students participated in role plays with male actors. During the role plays, which were conducted using virtual reality technology, the male actor made unwanted sexual advances toward the participant. Participants' expression of anger in response to these advances was coded and analyzed. RESULTS: Women with a history of sexual victimization were observed to be less angry and used fewer anger words in response to initial unwanted sexual advances, compared with women with no history of sexual victimization. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the potential importance of women's expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances. Specifically, anger expression might be important to consider in understanding women's vulnerability to victimization and revictimization, and as an intervention target for programs designed to help women resist sexual violence. Finally, this study illustrates the potential benefits of a unique methodology--role plays conducted using virtual reality--for investigating women's responses to unwanted sexual advances.