Coercive Sexual Behavior Research Articles

Rape: The Roles of Outcome Expectancies and Hypermasculinity

Outcome expectancies regarding coercive sexual behavior of male undergraduates were investigated to understand their possible association with self-reported past and future coercive sexual behavior and hypermasculine personality styles. Subjects indicating lower negative outcome expectancies regarding rape reported a greater history of coercive sexual behavior and higher future likelihood of raping, and were more likely to fit a hypermasculine personality pattern. Regression analysis revealed that a hypermasculine personality style, self-reported likelihood of raping, and the interaction between rape outcome expectancies and hypermasculine personality best predicted a history of sexual coercion. Implications for future research and primary prevention are discussed.

Beliefs About the Effects of Alcohol on Involvement in Coercive and Consenting Sexual Activities1

This study examined how an alcohol instructional set (intoxicated or sober) and gender affected subjects' b]eliefs about the negative and positive consequences of engaging in coercive and consenting sexual behaviors, as well as subjects' e]xpressed likelihood of involvement in these activities. Participants who responded to an intoxicated set believed they were more likely to be involved in coercive sexual behaviors than those who responded to sober instructions. Males with an intoxicated set also expected fewer negative and more positive consequences from coercive sex than did other participants. For consenting sexual activities, males (regardless of set) rated negative consequences lower, positive consequences higher, and expressed a stronger likelihood of involvement than did females. Efforts to prevent sexual coercion might be enhanced by including a focus on how beliefs about alcohol may affect the expected consequences and occurrence of these acts.

Violent sexual fantasies and sexual behavior.

Masochistic sexual fantasies and sadistic sexual fantasies were associated with coercive sexual behavior self-reported by both 31 male and 31 female undergraduate students.

The assessment of social skills among sexually coercive college males

This study investigated the relationship between sexual coercion and social competence in a college population. Males who self‐reported low, moderate, and high levels of sexual coercion were administered several performance and paper‐and‐pencil measures designed to assess global social competence and specific skills, such as assertiveness, and social perception, or cue‐reading. In addition, subjects were administered questionnaires designed to assess attitudes towards women, rape myths, and hypermasculinity. While the attitude instruments measuring sexual callousness and acceptance of interpersonal violence discriminated among coercion groups, performance or paper‐and‐pencil measures of social competence and skills did not, despite the large number and array of measures. This research does not support the notion that men engage in coercive sexual behavior because they lack the appropriate social skills. Suggestions for future research include the examination of disinhibitory factors such as the use of alc...

Coercive sexual behavior among Mexican-American college students

This study investigates the self-reported occurrences of coercive sexual behavior among Mexican-American college students and compares the results with Anglo-American college students. College class standing, income, total number in the household, the presence of male siblings, and age were used as independent variables. Two hundred and forty-two female college students (53% Mexican-American, 47% Anglo-American), from introductory psychology classes completed a survey concerning violence occurring in dating situations. Being the victim of date rape was reported by 11.4% of the Mexican-American students, while Anglo-Americans reported 16.4% incidence, this was not a statistically significant difference. Unwanted sexual advances, other than intercourse, were reported by 36.6% of all female respondents, and 48.8% had experienced at least one kind of physical violence or threat in dating situations. Similarities with other researchers' findings and implications are reported.

Coercive sexuality in dating relationships: A situational model

Coercive sexual behavior among college students has been an area of concern to social scientists since Kanin first documented the problem in 1957. Since that time, much research has been done on the prevalence of sexual coercion, the characteristics of the offender, and the characteristics of the victim. However, little progress has been made in understanding the causes and processes of sexual coercion. The purpose of the present paper is to review the literature in terms of a theoretical model of coercive sexuality. Methodological issues are pointed out that have hindered progress in the field, and directions are offered for future research.

Perceptions of coercive sexual behavior by males and females

In this study male and female subjects were given six vignettes depicting heterosexual interactions between acquaintances. The vignettes described sexual advances representing different points along a coerciveness continuum. The gender of the aggressor and the victim were varied. The subjects were then asked to indicate their perception of the degree of coerciveness involved. In addition, they were asked to attribute both positive and negative feelings to the victim. The results indicated that male subjects perceived these sexual advances as slightly more coercive when the victim was a female, whereas females perceived the advances as slightly more coercive when the victim was a male. Also, there was a tendency to view the low-coercion activities as more coercive when the males were the victim, whereas the opposite was true for the vignettes rated high on coercion, especially the one describing physical coercion. The attributions of positive and negative feelings tended to parallel the coerciveness ratings. Typically, the more coercive activity was seen as, the less positive feelings and more negative feelings the subjects attributed to the victim. The results were discussed in terms of stereotypical beliefs regarding the sexuality of males and females and attribution theory.

Verbal coercive sexual behavior among college students.

Coercive sexual behavior exists at alarming rates on college campuses. Researchers attempting to identify factors related to sexual coercion have primarily investigated either the coercing college male or the coerced college female, independent of relationship factors. The present study investigated the prevalence of verbal sexual coercion, the beliefs and attitudes of sexually coercive and noncoercive men, and the differences in affective states between groups and at different stages of relationship development. Undergraduate students were grouped on the basis of their self-reported sexual experience history as being sexually inexperienced, having had consensual sexual relationships only, or having had coercive sexual relationships. Also, subjects who reported having been sexually experienced were asked to rate the nature of their relationship to their sexual partner. Subjects completed measures referring to sexual attitudes, sexual arousal patterns, and the emotional components of a sexual encounter. Analyses indicated that 42% of the males in the sample had engaged in verbal sexual coercion. Differences on the measures were found between the sexual experience groups and the relationship type subgroups. Results are discussed in the context of the situational model, in which the coercive male plays an active role in shaping his environment.

Coercive sexual fantasies of college men as predictors of self‐reported likelihood to rape and overt sexual aggression

In this study we explored the role of coercive sexual fantasies among men as predictors of hypothetical willingness to rape and self‐reports of past sexual aggression. Men (N = 114) enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses were given questionnaires assessing sexual fantasies, acceptance of rape myths, and aggressive tendencies as well as measures of likelihood to commit rape and past history of coercive sexual behavior. Likelihood to rape was found to be correlated with reports of coercive sexual fantasies (r = .51, p < .001), rape myth acceptance (r = .21, p < .05), and aggressive tendencies (r = .21, p < .05), yielding a multiple R of .44 (p < .001). Past coercive sexual behavior was correlated with coercive sexual fantasies (r = .26, p < .05), aggressive tendencies (r = .22, p < .05), and with their interaction (r = .39, p < .01), yielding a multiple R of .41 (p < .05). The two target variables, likelihood to rape and coercive sexual behavior, were not significantly associated with one another. These findings are discussed in terms of the role of sexual fantasy content as an hypothesized consequent of the content of external imagery to which the individual is exposed and as an hypothesized determinant of subsequent behavior.

Factors Related to Coercive Sexual Behavior in a Nonclinical Sample of Males

The sexual coercion literature has suggested numerous factors related to aggressive sexual behavior. The present investigation explores a number of these factors in a community sample. Data collected from 189 volunteers from the community included measures of sexual arousal, social perception, personality variables, attitudes toward women, and self-reported likelihood to rape. Multiple-regression analyses were used to determine the relative association of these factors to coercive sexual behavior. The present findings suggested that social perception, Extraversion and Neuroticism from the Eysenck Personality Inventory, sexual arousal, and self-reported likelihood to rape all contributed to the multiple regression. Rape Myth Acceptance, although not contributing significantly to the multiple regression, did show a significant zero-order correlation with coercive sexual behavior. Additional analyses were performed in an attempt to replicate an earlier predictive study by Malamuth and Check (1983) that found self-reported sexual arousal to be predicted by a combination of self-reported likelihood to rape, Psychoticism and Neuroticism from the Eysenck Personality Inventory, power motivation, and sexual experience. In the present study, both self-reported sexual arousal and penile tumescence measures were significantly related to attitudinal measures, social perception measures, and self-reported likelihood to rape. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed.