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Understanding sexual consent: An empirical investigation of the normative script for young heterosexual adults.

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... Sexual consent is complex, as numerous legal definitions and scholarly definitions have been developed to capture this complexity (see Archard, 1998;Beres, 2007;Cowling & Reynolds, 2004;Dripps, 1992;Hall, 1998;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2004Humphreys, , 2007Humphreys & Brousseau, 2010;Little, 2005;Pineau, 1989). Scholars have defined consent as: any agreement to participate in sex (Archard, 1998;Dripps, 1992); the absence of force or coercion (Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999); and, involving internal feelings and external signs of willingness or wanting to have sex (Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999). ...
... Relevant to the current study, college students' sexual consent behaviors have been found to be connected to attitudes (Jozkowski & Peterson, 2013), subjective norms (Bogle, 2008), and perceived behavioral control (Humphreys, 2004). With regard to attitudes, Lim and Roloff (1999) discovered that college students prefer nonverbal signals of consent; however, students recognize that verbal consent is often clearer and can prevent miscommunication-these findings indicate that college students have attitudes regarding the communication of consent. ...
... Also, Buhi and Goodson (2007) found that college students' peers have an influence on their sexual risktaking behavior. Finally, with regard to perceived behavioral control, Humphreys (2004) found that communication of consent during sexual activity may be perceived as awkward, or as a way to "ruin the mood," which might make young adults feel as though they are unable to successfully communicate consent directly. These previous research findings appear to indicate that the TPB factors that determine intentions, which then determine behavior, are relevant to the communication of affirmative sexual consent. ...
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This study longitudinally explored antecedents to college students’ affirmative sexual consent behaviors. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), hypotheses predicted that time one (T1) attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) would predict students’ T1 intentions to communicate affirmative consent to their partner.Also, this study predicted that at time two, intentions to communicate consent from T1would predict college students’ communication of affirmative consent to their partner during their most recent sexual encounter. Results support hypotheses for all affirmative consent behaviors, and demonstrate that subjective norms and PBC are strong determinants of students’ affirmative sexual consent.
... This is in keeping with the traditional heterosexual script in which men are the initiators of sexual activity and women are the gatekeepers of sexual activ ity ( Byers, 1996 ) as well as with women's greater risk for expe riencing sexual coercion ( Muehlenhard et al., 2016 ;O'Sullivan et al., 1998 ;Parr, 2020 ). In addition, individuals with less sexual Sexual consent attitudes and behaviour experience have been shown to have more positive attitudes toward the use of direct sexual consent ( Humphreys, 2004 ;Humphreys & Herold, 2007 ). According to these authors, this may be because these individuals have idealistic views of use of sexual consent and are less likely to believe that they are able to interpret nonverbal cues. ...
... We found only limited evidence that gender was associat ed with sexual consent attitudes or behaviour. In contrast to findings by other researchers that women hold stronger positive sexual consent attitudes ( Camp et al., 2018 ;Humphreys, 2004 ;Humphreys & Herold, 2007 ;Newstrom et al., 2020 ), we did not find gender differences in positive sexual consent attitudes or in either of our measures of sexual consent behaviour. Although men did report signifi cantly stronger negative consent attitudes than did women, the magnitude of this association was small and gender did not add uniquely to the prediction of negative consent attitudes. ...
... In keeping with previous research ( Humphreys, 2004 ;Humphreys & Herold, 2007 ;Newstrom et al., 2020 ), individ uals with less sexual experience reported signifi cantly more positive attitudes towards sexual consent and were signifi cantly less likely to report using an indirect behavioural approach in establishing sexual consent (although this latter result did not contribute uniquely). It may be that individuals with less sexual experience have idealistic views of use of sexual consent but are less likely to believe that they can interpret indirect, nonverbal sexual consent behaviours. ...
Article
Because many young adults do not consistently give and receive explicit consent in their sexual relationships, it is important to identify factors associated with sexual consent attitudes and behaviour. In this study, we assessed the extent to which sexual health education, sexual consent education, sexual attitudes, and perceptions of social norms were associated with sexual consent attitudes and behaviour. Participants were 196 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 25 enrolled at an eastern Canadian university. At the bivariate level, we found evidence for the importance of sexual consent education by parents, sexual attitudes, and perceptions of social norms with respect to sexual consent attitudes and behaviour. Multiple regression analyses showed that more positive perceptions of social norms, more liberal sexual attitudes, and more sexual consent education from parents were uniquely associated with lower negative attitudes towards sexual consent and more consistent use of explicit sexual consent. More positive perceptions of social norms and less sexual experience were uniquely associated with more positive sexual consent attitudes. Only perception of social norms was uniquely associated with less use of an indirect behavioural approach to establishing consent. The results are interpreted in terms of their implications for enhancing sexual consent attitudes and behaviour among young people.
... Muehlenhard et al. (2016) suggested that the accumulation of these cues increases the probability that a person is willing to engage in a sexual interaction. In other words, sexual consent can be conceptualized as an ongoing and iterative process that builds toward and continues throughout a consensual sexual encounter (Beres, 2010(Beres, , 2014Humphreys, 2004). Sequential behaviors that are part of this process may be observed and interpreted rapidly or over longer periods of time in a continuous fashion (Muehlenhard et al., 2016). ...
... Fig. 1 Significant differences in intercepts and in patterns of changes in consent perceptions over the course of the vignette. There were betweenperson differences by student status and alcohol manipulation as well as within-person differences by target's sex and type of behavior This finding is consistent with several qualitative studies that have indicated people perceive consent communication as a process comprising multiple cues (Beres, 2010;Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowski et al., 2018). Our study helps verify this qualitative work and suggests that an accumulation of subtle cues may be perceived by people as indicating consent in the absence of an explicit affirmative communication of consent. ...
... For example, people may be reluctant to perceive a female's consent until she first engages in a seemingly consensual sexual behavior. Because the process of consent should be ongoing, problems might arise if that initial consensual behavior is used to assume consent to other sexual behaviors-especially because males are more likely to perceive consent as a discrete event (Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowski et al., 2018). As our own findings suggested, perceiving consent to one behavior does not equate to perceiving consent to all sexual behaviors. ...
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Sexual consent can be conceptualized as a process of accumulating cues that build toward and continue throughout a consensual sexual encounter. How people perceive the cues of others during this process is an important aspect of consent. However, previous research has not investigated the trajectories of people’s consent perceptions throughout such a process. Using a novel staggered vignette protocol, we examined participants’ (N = 1218; 64.4% female) perceptions of fictional targets’ sexual consent at 11 time points. We tested latent growth curve models using multilevel structural equation modeling to examine trajectories in consent perceptions over the course of the vignette. We hypothesized that mean differences and rates of change would be associated with several constructs relevant to sexual consent. We found that initial consent perceptions and trends over the course of the vignette varied by whether the participant was a university student, by an alcohol manipulation in the vignette, by the fictional target’s sex, and by type of sexual behavior. Researchers should examine whether our findings on consent perceptions of a fictional vignette extend to people’s actual sexual encounters, including potential associations between the three primary aspects of sexual consent: perceptions, feelings, and communication.
... Understanding consent as ongoing means that an agreement to perform one sexual act does not imply consent for further acts and that consent can be retracted at any stage. Some early research suggests that men are more likely to view consent as a discrete event while women are more likely to regard it as an ongoing process (Humphreys, 2004;Humphreys & Herald, 2007). ...
... Studies show that direct verbal communication is endorsed by third level students as the most effective mode of consent communication, yet sexual scripts based on social expectations often prioritise tacit, indirect signals in which consent is non-verbal or assumed (Beres, Herald, & Maitland, 2004;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowski & Peterson, 2013;Muehlenhard et al., 2016). Same-sex couples may be more likely than heterosexual couples to communicate consent verbally, but indirect, non-verbal consent signals are nonetheless more common overall, regardless of an individual's sexual orientation (Beres et al., 2004;Fantasia, 2011). ...
... Same-sex couples may be more likely than heterosexual couples to communicate consent verbally, but indirect, non-verbal consent signals are nonetheless more common overall, regardless of an individual's sexual orientation (Beres et al., 2004;Fantasia, 2011). Students' preference for tacit consent communication has been attributed to the widespread perception that direct consent is awkward, unnatural, and disruptive to the flow of sexual events (Humphreys, 2004;Muehlenhard et al. 2016). Young adults' consent negotiations are also influenced by the type of sexual behaviour they are performing, with research indicating that non-verbal and indirect cues are most often adopted for activities such as kissing and genital fondling, while more direct, explicit forms of consent are used for sexual intercourse (Hall, 1998;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999). ...
... Discussion of Sexual Violence. General discussion of sexual violence was measured using the 4-item Discussion and Awareness subscale modified from the Revised Sexual Consent Scale (Humphreys, 2004) plus an additional item created for this study. Participants were asked to indicate how often they engaged in each behavior using a 5-point Likert scale Once or twice, 3 -Sometimes, 4 -Often, 5 -Very often). ...
... The mean was calculated across the items and Attitude Towards Establishing Consent. Attitude towards establishing consent was measured using the 9-item Positive Attitude Towards Establishing Consent subscale of the Revised Sexual Consent Scale (Humphreys, 2004). Participants were asked to indicate their agreement with each of the items using a 5-point Likert scale (1 -Strongly Disagree, 2 -Disagree, 3 -Neither Agree Nor Disagree, 4 -Agree, 5 -Strongly Agree). ...
... and Time 2 (M = 2.38, SD = .65; α = .71).Disclosure of Experiences with Sexual Violence.Disclosure of personal experiences with sexual violence was measured using 3 items from the Discussion and Awareness subscale modified from the Revised Sexual Consent Scale(Humphreys, 2004) plus three additional items created for this study. Participants were asked to indicate how often they engaged in each behavior using a 5-point Likert scale (1 -None at all, 2 -A little, 3 -A moderate amount, 4 -A lot, 5 -A great deal). ...
Article
Sexual violence, including street harassment, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape, is a ubiquitous problem, particularly for college-aged women, with wide-reaching effects, such as increased anxiety, depression, stress, self-blame, guilt, and poorer sleep quality and lower self- esteem. Although there are federally-mandated sexual violence prevention efforts on college campuses, they are generally ineffective, thus, a new approach is needed to address this issue. One such approach is through the use of mobile applications. Studies have shown that there are over 200 sexual violence-related mobile apps currently on the market, but that the majority of them fall short when it comes to preventing sexual violence and reducing its harmful effects. The present study tested the efficacy of two sexual violence mobile apps (Circle of 6 and Hollaback!) on interpersonal (e.g., social support, communication efficacy, risk assessment, disclosure, etc.) and health outcomes (e.g., anxiety, depression, stress) using an experimental design and undergraduate participants. The Revelation Risk Model (RRM) was also applied in the new context of mobile apps and sexual violence. Results revealed: 1) no significant differences for either app use condition compared to the control condition on any of the outcome variables; 2) partial support for the RRM in the sexual violence context, with two of the risk protection motives (self and relationship) predicted willingness to disclose experiences with sexual violence and communication efficacy regarding sexual violence, but not discussion of sexual violence in general; and 3) significant associations between many of the outcome variables at Time 1, such as rape myth acceptance and attitudes toward establishing consent, suggesting that there are important relationships beyond app use that should be further explored. These findings can inform development of future interventions aimed at reducing the harmful effects of sexual violence, whether it be technology-based in the form of mobile apps or interpersonal-based in the form of promoting the discussion and destigmatization of sensitive issues such as sexual violence in order to increase disclosure and improve the health and wellbeing of individuals’ interpersonal relationships, not just for victims, but for everyone.
... Beres (2007) argues that society's understanding of consent is underdeveloped and relies on assumed definitions of consent that could be challenged with appropriate campaigns. There is much ambiguity around the idea of consent, often because of the different ways in which it can be given (Hall, 1998;Humphreys, 2004Humphreys, , 2007 such as no response at all, verbal or non-verbal methods, and directly or indirectly (Waldby et al., 1990;Hickman and Muehlenhard, 1999;Beres et al., 2004;Humphreys, 2004). People see consent through many different behaviors and indicators in sexual scenarios that are related to wanting and pleasure, whereas others see it only as the clear verbal agreement to each sexual act . ...
... Beres (2007) argues that society's understanding of consent is underdeveloped and relies on assumed definitions of consent that could be challenged with appropriate campaigns. There is much ambiguity around the idea of consent, often because of the different ways in which it can be given (Hall, 1998;Humphreys, 2004Humphreys, , 2007 such as no response at all, verbal or non-verbal methods, and directly or indirectly (Waldby et al., 1990;Hickman and Muehlenhard, 1999;Beres et al., 2004;Humphreys, 2004). People see consent through many different behaviors and indicators in sexual scenarios that are related to wanting and pleasure, whereas others see it only as the clear verbal agreement to each sexual act . ...
... Coercive methods were also referred to, suggesting that the use of coercive strategies, such as pressure and persuasion could suggest why consent was not given, however, it should be noted that coercive methods have previously been mentioned as a reason as to why a scenario was consensual (Table 3), which suggests a difference in perceptions across participants. Participants who used coercion to suggest why consent was not given in a scenario suggested that "true" consent cannot be given under pressure, which is in line with some researchers' definitions of consent (Humphreys, 2004). ...
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Around 90% of rape victims know their perpetrator, making acquaintance rape the most common form of rape, contradicting societal beliefs. There is ambiguity about the meaning and use of consent in sexual scenarios (Beres, 2007). This study used a mixed methods approach to test the effectiveness of a campaign video aimed at increasing understanding of consent. We assessed whether the video affected rape judgments in vignettes depicting consensual or non-consensual sexual scenarios. We also manipulated whether making consent the primary or secondary question influenced attitudes. Text responses were also obtained to gain an insight into participant reasoning. The campaign showed no increase in rape judgments. Making consent primary in question order did lead to greater accuracy in rape judgment. A content analysis of the free-text responses indicated that the presence of the campaign actually reduced people’s use of consent in explaining why a scenario may represent rape: Instead they focused on the attractiveness of the attacker. These results are discussed in relation to the effectiveness of passively viewing campaign material.
... Humphreys, 2014). Although scholarship indicates that implicit communication invites neither misunderstandings nor sexual assault (Beres, 2010;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999), pressure has increased around verbally affirming one's desire to engage in partnered sexual activity. However, this practice has been traditionally rare (Lindgren et al., 2009;T. P. Humphreys, 2004) and has received backlash at its implementation (Humphreys & Herold, 2003;Jozkowski, 2015a). People claim aversion to 'yes means yes' because it ruins the mood of sexual scenarios (Young, 2014). Yet feminist and other activist or campus groups have pushed back, using slogans such as 'party with consent' and 'consent is sexy' to promote ...
... The present research built on previous literature on how people perceive sexual consent. People generally report thinking that verbal affirmative consent is awkward, ruins the mood, and is overall unsexy (Beres, 2010;Blunt-Vinti et al., 2019;Curtis & Burnett, 2017;Foubert et al., 2006;T. P. Humphreys, 2004;Lindgren et al., 2009). After all, the slogan 'consent is sexy' was developed to address this shared cultural belief (consentissexy.net). But to the best of our knowledge, no peerreviewed research has empirically tested the validity of that claim. Do people find consent sexy? Or does the presence of verbal consent reduce the eroticism of ...
... Beliefs about the required implicitness of sexuality are compounded by women and men's sexual roles. If a man verbally communicates during sex, he risks feeling or being perceived as unsure, partner-focused, or otherwise ill-equipped to lead the sexual encounter, all of which would contradict his prescribed role, inviting negative affect (Foubert et al., 2006;Humphreys, 2004). Meanwhile, women are also supposed to be silentbut about their sexual interest or desire. ...
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Whether “consent is sexy’ is a topic that has been broadly debated, with some contending that asking for consent ‘ruins the mood’ and is, therefore, distinctly not sexy. In the current research, we investigated whether consent is sexy by comparing evaluations of written erotica based on whether the characters expressed explicit verbal consent. In Study 1, we compared brief excerpts of erotic fiction in which verbal sexual consent was either present or absent and determined that U.S. adults judged the stories similarly and, if anything, considered the excerpts with verbal consent sexier. In Study 2, we generated erotic stories that followed familiar, heterosexual scripts and compared evaluations of erotica with consent expressed explicitly and verbally to erotica with consent expressed implicitly through no resistance. Participants considered both versions equally as sexy, indicating that public concerns about consent ruining sexual dynamics are potentially unwarranted. We discuss the potential utility of sexual media in normalising sexual consent as an erotic aspect of sexual scripts.
... Although some proponents of affirmative consent and affirmative consent initiatives portray consent as simplistic (e.g., 'Yes Means Yes'; 'Consent is Sexy'; 'Consent: It's Simple as Tea 1 '), consent communication is actually quite nuanced (Muehlenhard et al., 2016). For example, consent has been conceptualised as a series of sequential cues that collectively indicate one's willingness to engage in sexual behaviour (e.g., Humphreys, 2004). And young adults may interpret behaviours, actions, and cues occurring in social settings (e.g., bars or parties) as well as the transition to a home or private setting as indicating their potential partner's consent to sexual behaviour (Beres, 2010;Jozkowski et al., 2018). ...
... It might be that people use or look for discrete behaviours (e.g., a butt lift to presumably remove one's underwear) to communicate or perceive consent (Beres, 2014(Beres, , 2010. Alternatively, people might rely on a series of behaviours, actions, or cues to communicate or interpret consent (e.g., the combination of increased physical touching, mutually removing clothing, and getting condoms [Beres, 2010[Beres, , 2014Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowski et al., 2018]). Such a series of iterative behaviours, actions, and cues can occur rapidly over a short period, immediately preceding when sexual behaviour may occur. ...
... They identified cues such as flirting, eye contact, and touching in a social setting as suggesting interestand even consentto engage in sexual behaviour. Additionally, across three other qualitative studies, at least some participants reported that the transition from a social setting to a private setting was another indicator of consent to engage in sexual behaviour in this iterative process (Beres, 2010;Beres et al., 2014;Humphreys, 2004). For example, Beres (2010) found that some interview participants indicated that 'whether or not someone was willing to transition to a private location after the bar' can be an initial indicator of consent (p. 6). ...
Article
In preliminary studies, behaviors, actions, and cues occurring in social settings (e.g., bars or parties), including the transition to a private setting (e.g., going home together), have been identified as indicating a potential partner’s consent to sexual behavior. To examine this nuance, we assessed people’s in-the-moment perceptions of sexual consent. We developed staggered vignettes of a fictional sexual encounter between two characters and asked participants (N = 1094) to indicate the extent that they believed the characters were willing to engage in several sexual behaviors. We found that the act of transitioning from a social to a private setting increased participants’ in-the-moment perceptions of the characters’ willingness to engage in genital touching, oral sex, and vaginal-penile sex (ps < .001). We did not find the effect of transitioning to a private setting to vary by the gender of the (1) participant or (2) character initiating the transition. However, we found that male participants indicated that the female character was more likely to be willing to engage in sexual behavior when the female character initiated the invitation to transition from the social to the private setting. We recommend that educators and advocates emphasize such nuances in consent communication as part of affirmative consent and sexual assault prevention initiatives.
... HUMPHEYS y HEROLD (2007) encontraron que las mujeres consideran importante que el consentimiento se lleva a cabo mediante un proceso continuo. La acumulación de señales es interpretadas de manera global por las mujeres como una señal de consentimiento, aunque a los hombres les suele bastar una sola señal al comienzo de la actividad para percibir el consentimiento (HUMPHREYS, 2004). ...
... Mientras que las parejas que tienen una menor experiencia sexual confían en las expresiones activas de consentimiento (explícitas, implícitas, verbales o no verbales), a medida que aumenta la experiencia sexual, se confía en las señales que no expresan respuesta. Además, estas diferencias también se han encontrado según el género, y mientras las mujeres consideran importante que el consentimiento se tiene que expresar independientemente de si la relación de la pareja es esporádica o duradera, para los hombres la necesidad del consentimiento disminuye a medida que persiste la relación (HUMPHREYS, 2004). ...
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El estudio del consentimiento sexual está muy presente en las investigaciones sobre los delitos sexuales, porque es el aspecto central para reconocer si una relación ha sido aceptada o, por el contrario se considera una agresión sexual. El modelo de consentimiento afirmativo promulgado por la Ley Orgánica 10/2022, de 6 de septiembre, de garantía integral de la libertad sexual describe la obligación de prestar una voluntad clara para considerar que una relación sexual es consentida. No obstante, el consentimiento no tiene una definición clara, y es un asunto complejo que tienen muchos matices, aristas y variables que la literatura científica ha tratado de analizar. La forma en que las personas perciben las señales de los demás durante este proceso es un aspecto importante del consentimiento. Los hallazgos han mostrado que el consentimiento sexual puede expresarse mediante comunicación verbal o no verbal, de manera directa o indirecta. En algunos contextos, además, se ha considerado que la actitud pasiva también puede expresar un consentimiento. Las investigaciones han evidenciado que existe una discrepancia entre los elementos requeridos en las disposiciones legales, de la forma en la que las personas participan en sus relaciones sexuales. El presente artículo describe la situación actual de la investigación sobre cómo las personas se involucran en el “consentimiento sexual” con el objetivo de servir como referencia para el diseño de estrategias de divulgación e investigaciones futuras.
... Some researchers have identified consent as an ongoing, continuous process (Beres, 2014;Humphreys, 2004). Consent is something given or obtained and can be renewed as sexual behavior continues. ...
... In some respects, research has identified this concept of consent as ongoing (Beres, 2010;Beres, 2014;Humphreys, 2004) and that some educators and scholars have identified important skills needed to assess for consent in an ongoingmanner (Jozkowski, 2015;Pineau, 1989). Some educators are also designing (Carmody, 2015) and assessing (Carmody, 2015) programs that begin to address these complexities, supplying skills for seeking and giving clarity in sexual encounters in an ongoing way. ...
Article
Consent to sex is a topic of much research, particularly with the goal of optimizing sex education for youth, college students, and military service personnel. Sex educators have tended to err on the side of clear and concise definitions of consent for ease of instruction. However, the sexual science literature has steadily shown that the navigation of consent to sexuality activity is much more nuanced, situated and contextual. When consent is conceptualized as a yes or no answer to particular sexual acts or sexual activity altogether, it overlooks the dynamic nature of how people experience consenting. This article examines consent in the sexual science research literature and then considers these findings through the lens of some of the contributions of phenomenological philosophy. We then discuss the experience of consent as a dialogic process that can lead to moments of transcendence of the self and deep reverence for the other, despite some moments of lack of clarity or ambiguity within the same sexual act.
... Typically, one person initiates or requests a sexual behavior, and another person responds based on their willingness to take part in that sexual behavior (Muehlenhard et al., 2016). This process of sexual consent can be iterative, building toward and continuing throughout a consensual sexual encounter (Beres, 2014;Humphreys, 2004;. Given these interactive components, consensual sex cannot exist based on the sole willingness of one person. ...
... In sum, sexual consent reflects an interpersonal process that is iterative and cyclical (Humphreys, 2004;Muehlenhard et al., 2016). One person may begin by feeling willing to engage in a sexual behavior with another person, so they try to communicate their willingness to the other person in some manner and consequently look for indications that the other person is also willing. ...
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Sexual consent is a multidimensional construct that requires the participation of all involved in a sexual encounter; however, previous research has almost exclusively relied on one person's perspective. To address this, we collected open- and closed-ended data on sexual consent from 37 dyads in committed sexual relationships (N = 74). We found that relationship length was associated with sexual consent and couples who accurately perceived each other's consent communication cues reported elevated levels of internal consent feelings. Communicating willingness to engage in sexual activity remains important even within committed relationships. Preliminary findings suggest that further investigations of dyadic nuances of sexual consent are warranted.
... It is important to note before we proceed that definitions of sexual assault are not completely clear in every situation. For example, explicit consent is not always obtained verbally prior to a sexual encounter (Baldwin-White, 2019; Beres, 2007;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowsi et al., 2014), in particular for those in longer-term relationships (Humphreys, 2007). Thus, the absence of explicit verbal consent is not necessarily akin to sexual assault. ...
... Similarly, as expressed by Coy et al. (2013), young people are often uncertain about how to obtain consent for sexual intercourse. Current consent movements often emphasize the need for verbal affirmation in the form of a "yes" before sexual activity can be deemed consensual (see Humphreys & Herold, 2003;Vidu & Martínez, 2019); however, nonverbal cues also exist and may be more common than or even preferred to verbal indicators (Baldwin-White, 2019; Beres, 2007;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowsi et al., 2014). These factors contribute to a problematic landscape in which understandings of consent are inchoate and sexual assault becomes more likely. ...
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A critically acclaimed horror film, Midsommar has been the topic of considerable debate because of its central sex scene. While most reviewers, who acknowledge the scene, claim it is “unorthodox” or “weird” as far as sex sequences go, a small subset of critics have labelled it as depicting rape. The ambiguous nature of this scene may be viewed as problematic because it blurs the line between consent and sexual assault. In this paper, we provide a detailed description of the scene in question. Then, we elucidate a host of reasons why the scene may be construed as an example of non-consensual or consensual sexual intercourse. Finally, we conclude by discussing the scene’s implications in terms of contemporary Western understandings of consent, sexual assault, and (male) rape myths.
... Sexual consent negotiation refers to the actions involved in initiating sexual activity, refusing or consenting to sexual activity, and adhering to sexual consent decisions (e.g., Humphreys, 2004). Establishing sexual consent is critical in identifying sexual activity as consensual or non-consensual (Hust et al., 2014;Jozkowski et al., 2018). ...
... For example, men often misinterpret friendliness to indicate sexual attraction or interest (Lindgren et al., 2008) and are fairly inaccurate at gauging women's sexual interest. Men may also place less importance on explicit consent attainment as opposed to women (Humphreys, 2004). Heterosexual men have been found to favour indirect non-verbal behaviours above verbal behaviours as indicators for consent obtainment (Cupach & Metts, 2014;Hermann et al., 2018;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Vannier & O'Sullivan, 2011). ...
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The current understanding of sexual consent negotiation is grounded in research conducted with heterosexual populations, and little is understood about how non-heterosexual men (bisexual, bi-curious, two-spirited, other) navigate these processes. A sample of 251 heterosexual men and 313 non-heterosexual men participated in an online survey where they were asked to respond to an open-ended question regarding sexual consent. Heterosexual men responded to the question “Do you think sexual consent and sex negotiation is different for heterosexual men compared to gay men? If so, how?”. Non-heterosexual men responded to the question “Do you think sexual consent and sex negotiation is different for men who have sex with men compared to heterosexual men? If so, how?”. Several methods were used to recruit participants including social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter), Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, and via the distribution of flyers/posters. Participants were from Canada, the United States, and Western Europe. Basic demographic information was gathered along with self-identified sexual orientation. Responses were analyzed following Braun & Clarke’s (2006) six phase thematic analysis guidelines from which four main themes were derived: (1) understanding of sexual interactions, (2) understanding of sexual script, (3) unique challenges, and (4) the universality of sexual consent. These findings provide initial insight into the perceived differences between heterosexual and non-heterosexual men in regards to sexual consent negotiation within heterosexual male and male same-sex sexual interactions which can serve to inform social interactions, education, and policy making. Further implications and future directions are discussed.
... Jozkowski et al. (2014); Marcantonio and Jozkowski (2020) Consent to some acts but not others "You said yes to some sexual acts, but acts occurred that were not agreed upon." Beres (2014); Humphreys (2004) Consent to sex but not without condoms/contraception "You said yes to sex only with a condom or contraception, but acts occurred without protection." Davis (2019); Grace and Anderson (2018) ever made the respondent "engage in kissing or petting" (Koss & Oros, 1982) and whether a man "had sex play (fondling, kissing, or petting, but not intercourse)" with the respondent (see Table 1). ...
Article
Since the initial development of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) four decades ago, the SES has been designed to measure a range of forms of sexual exploitation, including acts that are coercive but not legally sanctioned as well as acts that legally qualify as crimes. That feature was retained in the revised Sexual Experiences Survey-Victimization (SES-V) measure. This article reviews the theoretical and empirical literature that guided the development of the Illegal Sexual Exploitation module of the SES-V, which measures experiences of nonconsensual exploitation resulting in sexual contact and which is designed to correspond to legal definitions across multiple jurisdictions. This article addresses research and applied contexts in which the distinction between legal and illegal sexual exploitation is important and the challenges and limitations involved in writing survey items that correspond to legal definitions. It also discusses revisions made to the items that make up the Illegal Sexual Exploitation module of the SES-V as compared to the illegal items in prior versions of the SES, including a new operationalization of non-consent and an expansion of the sexual acts and exploitative tactics that are included. Finally, the article discusses directions for future research on the Illegal Sexual Exploitation module of the SES-V.
... These studies and subsequent review syntheses have documented numerous (mis)understandings and practices around consent in the context of "hook-up culture" inherent on college campuses (Johnson & Hoover, 2015;Jozkowski & Peterson, 2013;Muehlenhard et al., 2016;Wood et al., 2019). In particular, this work has documented robust discrepancies in beliefs around who is able to consent to sexual activitynamely people who are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, who understand what they are consenting to, and who are consenting without pressure or coercion -as well as when consent should be obtained (e.g., once before the onset of sexual activity, or repeatedly as part of an ongoing process; Beres, 2014;Humphreys, 2004). ...
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Understanding sexual consent is essential for the promotion of healthy sexual relationships and the prevention of sexual violence. Emerging sexual technologies can provide opportunities for users to learn about and potentially practice navigating sexual consent with partners, but this field of research is still nascent. In this study, we surveyed 5,828 erotic camsite users to determine whether they learned something new about sexual consent from their use of the site. Participants mostly identified as heterosexual white men, aged 18 to 99. Our results showed that 12% (n = 699) reported learning something new about sexual consent from their camsite use. Those who reported learning something new were prompted to provide a qualitative report of what they had learned; 36% (n = 252) did so. Users reported learning about the importance of respecting boundaries; how consent can change or differ based on the person, context, or time; the implicit and explicit forms of sexual consent, and the need to explicitly communicate about sexual consent; and how consent norms apply to commercial sexual contexts. Our findings show that people are learning about sexual consent from camsites, but the obtained knowledge is complex and sometimes negative. This study sheds light on the potential of emerging sexual technologies as sources for sexual education, and highlights the need for further research exploring the ways in which understandings of digital sexual consent translate to broader contexts.
... These heterosexual scripts thus suggest men are the ones who push or pursue sex, while women are portrayed as sexually reluctant (Bockaj & O'Sullivan, 2023). Pressures on men to appear dominant in sexual encounters may contribute to decreased verbal communication; under this theory, it is suggested that if a male verbally communicates during sex, he risks being perceived as unsure or going against ideals of masculinity (Foubert et al., 2006;Humphreys, 2004). ...
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Adults entering college, especially autistic individuals, may have a higher likelihood of unwanted or distressing sexual experiences. Additionally, autistic adults appear to endorse dissatisfying sexual education experiences and difficulties with consent cues. The current mixed-methods study examined the types of consent cues college students rely on and potential barriers to seeking sexual consent. We combined data from two studies of undergraduate students: 1) an in-person cross-sectional study exploring conceptualizations and interpretations of consent in autistic and non-autistic young adults (n = 30), and 2) an online, short-term longitudinal study examining predictors of mood concerns in neurodiverse students transitioning into their first semester at 4 northeastern United States university systems in Fall 2022 and 2023 (n = 230). In-person participants completed a semi-structured interview asking about consent expression and interpretation. Participants from both studies completed self-report surveys measuring autistic traits, attitudes and perceptions toward sexual consent, and sexual education history. Qualitative analysis suggested students preferred to rely on explicit verbal consent, but felt they were unusual for doing so. In contrast, quantitatively, students across both studies expressed comfort with explicit verbal consent, to a high and similar degree. Further research may benefit from investigating differences between young adults' perceived and actual sexual consent preferences of peers, with attention to neurodivergent individuals.
... Desde la psicología, el consentimiento sexual se ha definido desde una matriz comunicativa que se focaliza en conocimientos, comportamientos y actitudes, y lo incluye en el marco de procesos de negociación sexual establecidos como "la comunicación interpersonal que tiene lugar durante un encuentro sexual para influir en lo que pasa en términos de necesidades y deseos de las dos personas involucradas" (Allen, 2003, p. 236). Desde esta perspectiva, algunos fallos en el consentimiento se pueden interpretar como "malentendidos comunicacionales" (sexual miscomunication) (Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowski, & Peterson, 2013), y amplían la comprensión respecto de los repertorios de respuesta posibles (lenguaje verbal directo e indirecto, el no verbal directo e indirecto y la no respuesta), más allá de la expresión explícita del "sí" o del "no". ...
Article
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El consentimiento sexual es un tema ético fundamental en las sociedades contemporáneas, cuyos desafíos han sido recientemente evidenciados por movimientos globales como #MeToo. Este artículo propone un enfoque sociológico y feminista que aboga por comprender el consentimiento en el marco de las relaciones sexuales cotidianas, las relaciones de género y poder, y las estructuras sociales. Explora tres dimensiones: las arquitecturas sociales que enmarcan las relaciones de género, las narrativas sexuales y las normas de los actores, y las escenas interactivas en las que se gestiona el consentimiento. Este enfoque analítico busca capturar su naturaleza matizada, contextual y relacional, trascender dicotomías simplistas y reconocer la intrincada red de poder, deseo y normas sociales en las interacciones íntimas.
... Studies have shown that permission for sexual activity is often given through behaviors such as gaze, body movement, kissing, increased physical proximity, intimate touch, and, less often, smiling (Hall, 1998;Jozkowski, 2011). Research has also shown that non-verbal behaviors are used more often than verbal behaviors to communicate consent, both in heterosexual and homosexual couples, but that the more intimate the behavior, the greater the probability of consent being given verbally (Beres et al., 2004;Fantasia, 2011;Hall, 1998;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2005;Humphreys & Herold, 2007;Willis et al., 2021). ...
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The main objective of this study was to understand the relationship between pornography consumption and attitudes toward sexual consent. The study included 1329 adults who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, questions about pornography consumption, Paraphilic Pornography Consumption Scale, Sexual Consent Scale, and questions about the use of verbal and non-verbal sexual consent behaviors. The results indicate that participants who don’t watch pornography have more positive attitudes towards sexual consent and those that watch pornography every day tend to feel more uncomfortable asking or giving sexual consent. Additionally, there were no gender differences in the way of giving or asking for sexual consent. Our findings acknowledge that pornography has an impact in the attitudes and behaviors of sexual consent, which reinforces the importance of mentioning its impact in sexual education classes. Sexual consent education is a fundamental part of sexual education, and in a digital world where pornography is just a click away, we need to further explore how this relationship can negatively impact people’s sexual experiences.
... Men are more likely to communicate their consent by using initiating behavior such as taking off their clothes, and women are more likely to communicate their consent by engaging in passive behaviors such as not resisting when a partner attempts inter-course Jozkowski & Wiersma, 2015). Men are also more likely than women to use aggressive means to communicate their consent (e.g., to just do the activity without asking or being asked : Jozkowski & Peterson, 2013), and to view consent as a single event rather than an ongoing process (Humphreys, 2004). ...
Chapter
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Chapter reviews legal definitions of sexual consent and research literature on sexual consent communication (and miscommunication)
... Although it is encouraging that young men are receiving information about consent, many emerging adults have misconceptions about consent (e.g., believing consent is an event not a process, consent is not necessary in committed relationships, and consent is simply a lack of resistance) and therefore likely require additional education and in-depth conversations on the topic (Beres, 2014). This is especially important for emerging adult men as some evidence suggests that men are more likely than women to see consent as an event (i.e., consenting at one point provides blanket consent for future interactions; Humphreys, 2004), less likely to look for verbal consent cues during sex (Jozkowski, 2011), and report being likely to use aggression and deception in convincing women to have sex with them (Jozkowski & Peterson, 2013). These conversations could also send gendered messages that support sexual double standards (e.g., men don't have to give consent because they always want sex) and contribute to gendered understandings of sexuality for young men. ...
Article
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Introduction During emerging adulthood, an important developmental period for exploring sexuality and developing sexual identity, men face pressure to be sexually active yet receive limited sexual information. Exploring emerging adult (EA) men’s sexual socialization and their desires for support in making healthy sexual decisions can help identify needs of college-attending men. Method Using a mixed-methods approach, we examined 2020 data from 49 EA men ages 18–25 regarding the messages they had received about sexuality from mothers, fathers, friends/peers, and online media, and what kinds of support they desire from mothers, fathers, and friends/peers in making healthy sexual decisions in college. Open-ended responses were coded using content analysis. Post hoc Fisher’s exact tests (FETs) explored the relationship between messages received and desired support. Results We identified eight categories of messages received: pregnancy/STI avoidance, consent, no messages, sex positivity, advice on sex and relationships, how to have sex, smart decision-making, and anatomy/physiology. We identified five categories of desired support: give me advice, do nothing, let’s talk more, support and accept me, and provide for me. FETs showed significant relationships between messages received and desired support. Conclusion EA men report receiving a variety of sexual messages across their lifetime. The majority desire some form of parental support in making healthy sexual decisions in college, and these desires may be related to previous parental messages about sexuality. Policy implications Parent education and sex education programming should work to increase EA’s sexual knowledge and decision-making skills and help parents provide support during the transition to adulthood.
... En effet, d'autres recherches révèlent que le consentement est beaucoup plus complexe qu'une simple réponse affirmative ou négative à un acte sexuel (Beres, 2007;Freitas, 2018). Selon des recherches sur les comportements sexuels consentants, il semble que le consentement soit plus souvent communiqué non verbalement que verbalement (Beres et al., 2004;Freitas, 2018;Hall, 1998;Humphreys, 2004;Humpreys et Herold, 2007). Pour Beres (2007), le consentement sexuel se manifeste, et ce, dans la plupart des cas, principalement à travers le corps, les émotions ou l'expression faciale. ...
... Sexual consent has been understood as (a) a behavioural act that can be communicated using direct or indirect, and verbal or nonverbal cues that communicate someone's willingness to engage in sexual activity (Hall, 1998;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2004) and as (b) a set of attitudes that can inform these cues and/or represent one's ideal intentions and beliefs about sexual consent (see Muehlenhard et al., 2016). To date, most research has examined consent behaviours and attitudes among only heterosexual young adults (e.g. ...
Article
Sexual consent campaigns aimed at reducing risk of sexual violence have historically been informed by research focusing almost exclusively on heterosexual young adults despite concerning rates of sexual violence committed against sexual minorities. Unfortunately, very little research has quantitatively compared how sexual consent attitudes may differ between men and women of different sexual identities. The current study attempts to help address this gap in the literature by examining how gender, sexual minority status, and the interaction of these variables contribute to sexual consent attitudes using a sample of 310 young adult cisgender participants. Sexual minority status was associated with greater perceived behavioral control over the consent process and identifying as a man predicted less awareness of consent. Gender differences in the endorsement of positive attitudes towards consent were more pronounced among heterosexual as compared to sexual minority participants. Finally, although men reported more assumptions about sexual consent than women in both sexual identity groups, the magnitude of the difference across gender was greater in the heterosexual group. Based on these findings, recommendations are made to help improve sexual assault prevention campaign efforts.
... However, momentary perceptions seem less distinct and instead change as new information is provided. Therefore, the present study corroborates previous conceptualizations that sexual consent is an ongoing and iterative process that builds toward and continues throughout a consensual sexual encounter (Beres, 2010;Humphreys, 2004;Muehlenhard et al., 2016). No single cue guarantees a person's sustained willingness to engage in a particular sexual behavior with a particular person. ...
Article
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Perceiving potential indicators of a person’s willingness is an integral component of sexual consent. Preliminary qualitative evidence using vignettes suggested that consent perceptions can change over the course of a sexual scenario. In the present study, we extended previous research by directly comparing momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions using a quantitative study design. Employing a staggered vignette protocol, we examined participants’ ( n = 962; 72.0% female) momentary perceptions of fictional characters’ sexual consent and compared them with participants’ retrospective perceptions of the characters’ consent. We hypothesized that participants would demonstrate a hindsight bias in that they would retrospectively indicate they thought the fictional characters were first willing to engage in sexual behavior earlier than when they did momentarily. We found that differences in participants’ momentary versus retrospective perceptions of characters’ sexual consent varied by the type of behavior. As we expected, participants demonstrated a hindsight bias for making out. Contrary to our hypothesis, participants were hesitant to retrospectively report that the characters were willing to engage in the other sexual behaviors (e.g., oral, vaginal, anal sex) at a point earlier than their momentary perceptions. That momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions significantly differ corroborates previous recommendations that sexual consent be conceptualized as an ongoing process.
... Such a view is also consistent with traditional sexual scripts, which depict men as sexual initiators and women as gatekeepers (Frith & Kitzinger, 2001;Gagnon & Simon, 1973), as well as the "no means no" standard of consent, which posits that someone (usually a woman) must verbally decline sexual advances from their partner (M. A. Beres, 2014;Little, 2005). On the other hand, T. P. Humphreys (2005) defined consent as dyadic (i.e., a " … mutual understanding, a willingness between partners to engage in agreed upon sexual behaviors"; p. 217), and a dyadic approach to sexual consent is the foundation of the affirmative ("yes means yes") standard of sexual consent (De Leon et al., 2014). Practically speaking, introducing a dyadic approach to understanding consent could help individuals view consent as an interpersonal (versus intrapersonal) communicative act that is negotiated and decided by both themselves and their sexual partners. ...
Article
The current investigation explored how college students define sexual consent, and the sources from which they developed these definitions. Thematic analysis generated five categories of consent definitions: permission, agreement, willingness, wanted-ness, and contextual elements (i.e., stipulations regarding the consent process; behaviors that require sexual consent). Participants’ sources from which they learned about the definition of sexual consent included: educational experiences, friends, family, school, media, personal experiences, and unsure/common sense. Findings highlight the complex nature of sexual consent as a communicative construct and the varied sources from which college students constructed their conceptualization of consent. Implications for college health and sexual assault programming, as well as for researchers looking to further explore the multi-faceted construct of sexual consent, are discussed.
... To date, research on consent has focused on two major areas of study. The first is examining consent as a behavioral act that can be communicated directly or indirectly through verbal or nonverbal expression of willingness (Hall, 1998;Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowski, 2011) and the second is examining the attitudes and beliefs towards consent that may inform these behavioral choices. A particularly novel contribution to this literature was the mixed-method development of the Sexual Consent Scale (SCS; Humphreys & Herold, 2007) and later revised version (SCS-R; Humphreys, 2013;Humphreys & Brousseau, 2010), which captures both behavioral approaches to and attitudes and beliefs about consent negotiation. ...
Article
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Sexual assault is a major public health concern in the United States that disproportionately affects sexual minority cisgender and nonbinary young adults. Although sexual assault is influenced by a myriad of societal and interpersonal factors, misunderstandings during the communication and interpretation of sexual consent signals likely contribute to this public health crisis. Unfortunately, research on sexual consent miscommunication has been heavily informed by heteronormative theories and conducted primarily with cisgender heterosexual men and women. The present study attempted to help address this gap in the literature by exploring factors that contribute to sexual consent attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in a sample of 251 cisgender and nonbinary sexual minority young adults. Nonbinary participants reported more proactive sexual consent attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors than cisgender participants. Sexual assertiveness was also a robust and unique predictor of adaptive sexual consent, particularly among those who identified as more traditionally masculine. Findings from the current study may help guide the development of more inclusive, research-informed sexual consent and sexual violence prevention programs.
... Further indicating that sexual consent is not simply "yes" versus "no," internal feelings of sexual consent may be conceptualized continuously, indicating that there is variation in people's willingness even across partnered sexual encounters that are labeled as consensual . Indeed, sexual consent is an ongoing process (Harris, 2018;Humphreys, 2004;. For these reasons, the way people experience and communicate their sexual consent should not be represented as some stagnant reality that can be reflected by simply saying "yes" or "no." ...
Article
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Sexual consent is often conceptualized as an internal willingness to engage in sexual activity, which can be communicated externally to a sexual partner. Internal sexual consent comprises feelings of physical response, safety/comfort, arousal, agreement/want, and readiness; external sexual consent includes communication cues that may be explicit or implicit and verbal or nonverbal. Most previous research on sexual consent has focused on between-person differences; little attention has been devoted to examining the within-person variation of sexual consent across time. We conducted a 28-day experience sampling methodology (ESM) study with a sample of adults (N = 113) to assess fluctuations in internal and external sexual consent across a given person's sexual events. We found that more than 50% and up to 80% of the variance in sexual consent scores could be accounted for by within-person variability. The type of sexual behavior participants engaged in during a sexual event predicted their internal and external consent. Further, internal consent feelings predicted external consent communication. Overall, our findings provided initial evidence regarding the extent that situational contexts are relevant for sexual consent. ESM study designs may be used to further investigate the potential contextual, intrapersonal, and interpersonal factors associated with internal and external sexual consent.
... In the field of sexuality, there have been many scholars examining consent as an important aspect of sexual behavior. A swell of research on consent (e.g., Beres, 2010Beres, , 2014Borges et al., 2008;Humphreys, 2004;Jozkowski et al., 2014;Jozkowski, 2011Jozkowski, , 2015Jozkowski & Wiersma, 2015;Muehlenhard, 1995Muehlenhard, /1996Muehlenhard et al., 2016) combined with the a variety of educational material (e.g., Advocates for Youth, 2015; AIDS Community Care Montreal, 2018; Alberta Health Services, 2019; deFur, 2016) all suggest that consent is an important topic to discuss in the field of sexuality. With regard to sexual relationships, scholars and public forums are adamant about consent being a prerequisite for sexual interaction. ...
Article
The fields of sexuality and Catholic theology are often seen in the public eye as polar opposites—and not from an unfounded base. While there are many topics the Catholic church and the field of sexology (the scientific study of sexuality) can disagree on, we rarely discuss the fundamental agreements between them. In the following text, I describe the evidence of agreement between Catholic teachings and sexual science on five main points: sexuality is integral to the human experience, consent is paramount, parents should be the primary educators of their children on matters of sexuality, sexuality education should be positive and developmentally appropriate, and that sexuality is an avenue for deep personal wounding. I summarize some of the calls for this collaboration, some functional barriers in addressing it, and suggest possible avenues for scholars to examine pertaining to sexual science and Catholic theology.
... This consent discourse underlines consent as an agreement, stemming from a legalist perspective of consent. Furthermore, the gender and sexual scripts in the university context complicate the "no means no" standard of consent (Humphreys 2005, Montemurro 2017, Phipps 2012, Wiederman 2005. ...
Thesis
Sexual consent has become a hot topic in discussions of sexual violence on university campuses. Individualised consent standards, interpersonal violence prevention and bystander intervention are promoted and emphasised by neoliberal universities in some of the most globally powerful neo-colonial states. However, little research has been done on the impact of neoliberal ideology and university structures on the development and evolution of sexual consent discourses. This thesis aims to address this gap in academic study by problematising the notion of affirmative consent, critiquing the neoliberal structure of academic institutions and exploring the decolonial politics embodied in Salsa dancing. Salsa dancing can facilitate an environment that values exploration of femininities and masculinities, as well as active nonverbal communication between dancing partners. While a neoliberal feminist lens may criticise the patriarchal nature of gender roles within some Latin dance styles, a more comprehensive understanding of Salsa through a decolonial feminist perspective challenges the biases from a limited Western standpoint which work to undermine embodied knowledge practices. This research collected data on various sexual consent programs, events and workshops from universities in different country contexts with special attention paid to creative methods of teaching consent. A total of 29 universities were contacted about potential sexual consent programs, events or workshops. Of these universities 11 confirmed that they had such a program, event or workshop or the university website had visible content online about such a program, event or workshop. The data was organised through descriptive analysis and noticeable similarities and differences were discovered. Neo-colonial states like the U.S., U.K. and Australia had the most institutionalised sexual consent discourses with consistent overlaps in contextual language, euphemism and metaphor. These commonalities were further analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis to delve into the hidden neoliberal politics behind specific messaging in institutionalised sexual consent education. Neoliberal individualism, disembodiment and universalised definitions of consent are currently being utilised by neo-colonial governments and their academic institutions as a way to avoid accountability for the structural violence implicated in acts of interpersonal sexual violence on campus. Salsa dancing is one embodied knowledge practice which could assist students in their experiential learning of sexuality and sexual communication. However, Salsa cannot fix the rapid privatisation of public universities which is happening globally. This research points to a problematic trend in neoliberal university politics dictating student and public discourses on key social issues.
... Recognizing the complexities of sex while intoxicated begins with understanding the concepts of wanting and consent (O'Sullivan & Allgeier, 1998). Consent is generally defined in Australian law as free and voluntary agreement, but people vary considerably in how they seek and interpret consent, both before and during sexual interactions (Beres, 2007;Beres, 2014;Friedman, 2008;Humphreys, 2004;Lafrance et al., 2012). Muehlenhard et al. (2016)'s review highlighted three common understandings of consent: for some, consent is imagined as an internal state of willingness; for others, consent may involve behaviors such as kissing or other physical gestures that someone uses to infer agreement; and in recent years, there has been a shift towards the promotion of affirmative consent, that is explicit, conscious, and on-going agreement to participate in sexual activities of any kind (Muehlenhard et al., 2016). ...
Article
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Intoxication can be a factor in unwanted sex, but research on the extent of the issue in both women and men is limited. We assessed the prevalence, correlates, and 10-year time-trends of unwanted sex due to intoxication among a representative sample of 4,279 women and 3,875 men aged 16–69 years in Australia and considered how these vary by gender. In 2012–13, 16% of women and 10% of men reported ever having had a sexual experience when they “did not want to because they were too drunk or high at the time.” For both women and men, this was associated with younger age, bisexual activity, and reports of lifetime injection drug use, sexually transmitted infections, and forced sex. Among women only, it was associated with drinking above guideline levels and ever having terminated a pregnancy. Among men only, it was associated with current tobacco smoking, elevated psychosocial distress, and poor general health. Compared with 2001–02 data, fewer men reported unwanted intoxicated sex, while there were no changes for women as a whole. Interpreting these findings through an intersectional assemblage framework supports stronger understanding of the multiple factors influencing sexuality and substance use with implications for promoting equity, safety, and sexual health
... However, different behaviors communicate consent and these may not be universal. Indeed, participants describe their "need" for consent depends on a number of factors (Willis et al., 2019) including length of relationship (Humphreys, 2007), sexual experience of the individual (Humphreys, 2005), gender (Humphreys, 2007;Humphreys & Herold, 2007), type of sexual act (Hall, 1998), and timing within the sexual scenario (Beres, 2014). These outward behaviors indicative of consent may not always reflect the cognitive feelings behind them (Muehlenhard, 1996): In fact only a mild to moderate relationship between internal (feelings of consenting) and external expressions (actually showing that one consents) of consent has been demonstrated (Jozkowski, Peterson, Sanders, Dennis, & Reece, 2014). ...
Article
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While the lack of consent is the only determining factor in considering whether a situation is rape or not, there is sufficient evidence that participants conflate wantedness with consent and pleasurableness with wantedness. Understanding how people appraise sexual scenarios may form the basis to develop appropriate educational packages. We conducted two large-scale qualitative studies in two UK universities in which participants read vignettes describing sexual encounters that were consensual or not, wanted or unwanted and pleasurable or not pleasurable. Participants provided free-text responses as to whether they perceived the scenarios to be rape or not and why they made these judgments. The second study replicated the results of the first and included a condition where participants imagined themselves as either the subject or initiator of the sexual encounter. The results indicate that a significant portion of our participants held attitudes reflecting rape myths and tended to blame the victim. Participants used distancing language when imagining themselves in the initiator condition. Participants indicated that they felt there were degrees of how much a scenario reflected rape rather than it simply being a dichotomy (rape or not). Such results indicate a lack of understanding of consent and rape and highlight avenues of potential educational materials for schools, universities or jurors.
... Previous literature has suggested that the majority of sexual acts are initiated using non-verbal tactics (Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999;Humphreys, 2004Humphreys, , 2007. This was true in the present study as well; the GBM sampled often reported less direct as well as non-verbal tactics for sexual initiation. ...
Article
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The present study examined the understanding and behaviors relating to sexual consent among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) internationally. Qualitative responses were collected from 350 men ranging from 18 to 73 years of age (M = 33.37) across Canada, the United States, and Western Europe. The results of a thematic analysis indicated that participants presented challenges with negotiating sexual consent. Themes were identified from the analysis detailing participants' perceptions and interactions prior to a sexual encounter (pre), during a sexual encounter (during), and after a sexual experience (post). Subthemes addressed a variety of issues GBM may face when engaging in sexual consent negotiations (e.g., sex-role positioning, power dynamics, sexual scripts among GBM, and additional sexual settings). These findings suggest that GBM face unique sexual consent challenges prior to, during, and in response to sexual encounters. Implications for demographic-specific resources and interventions are discussed further.
... Despite an emphasis on sexual assault prevention and violation of consent within youth populations, the literature focused on sexual consent understanding is underdeveloped (Humphreys & Brousseau, 2010;Jozkowski et al., 2014). In the studies that do exist, younger adults are commonly found to have a good understanding of sexual consent at its core (Humphreys, 2004); however, this does not always translate into how they assess consent in vignettes or describe their own consent preferences and behaviors (Muehlenhard et al., 2016). Therefore, research has only provided a starting point to examine sexual consent understanding at its most basic core, recognizing that how individuals apply, communicate, and value consent may represent distinct facets of the consent process. ...
Article
Sexual violence or misconduct can occur at any age, yet sexual consent understanding is not well studied, especially beyond early adulthood. This project aimed to describe how sexual consent is conceptualized across the adult lifespan, drawing comparisons between young, middle-aged, and older adults. Additionally, we examined variables that may differ by age group and influence sexual consent conceptualization. In a survey, young adults (n= 266), middle-aged adults (n= 236), and older adults (n= 51) were asked to define sexual consent and complete a measure on the appropriateness of giving and receiving consent in different types of sexual relationships. Participants also reported on their exposure to formal sex education and their current sexual relationship status. More than half (57.4%) of participants included basic elements of a simple core definition (agreement in reference to sexual acts), and most (63.3%) expanded beyond a simple definition. Age groups differed significantly on variables expected to influence sexual consent definitions, including exposure to sexual education and sexual consent attitudes. Age group differences were not found when examining the simple core definition, but young adults and middle-aged adults differed significantly in their expansion on the definition. Sexual consent attitudes were also significantly related to the scope of the supplied definition. These findings suggest that sexual consent definitions vary in scope across at least a portion of the lifespan and that the importance placed on sexual consent may be a reasonable intervention target regardless of age differences in sexual experience and education.
Article
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Le mouvement #MeToo et ses suites ont contribué à multiplier les discussions entourant le concept de consentement et à mettre en lumière ses liens avec la prévention des violences sexuelles (Moyano et al., 2023). Toutefois, depuis déjà plusieurs décennies, le concept fait l’objet de discussions aux niveaux juridique, académique et populaire. Dans un premier temps, nous explorerons les différentes définitions théorisées à l’intérieur des champs de savoir juridique, philosophique et scolaire (Beres, 2014; Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1999; Hörnle, 1998; Hurd, 1996). Dans un deuxième temps, nous analyserons de quelle manière ces diverses conceptions influencent ou limitent la compréhension du consentement, notamment en lien avec la prévention des violences sexuelles (Hall, 2019; Schneider & Hirsch, 2018). Enfin, nous proposerons une définition propre à l’enseignement-apprentissage du concept de consentement en se basant sur la Toile de l’égalité proposée par Collet et al. (2024).
Chapter
Courtship, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse are sometimes difficult to be differentiated. Since each of these concepts is characterized by complexity and ambiguity, obstacles to their conceptualization were briefly discussed. This chapter sought to acknowledge that the borders between these behaviors are very subtle, and there is an emergent need to raise awareness on the wide spectrum of behaviors that constitute sexual violence. As we deepen into this topic, sexual consent entered the discussion to help distinguish healthy and safe sexual interactions from disruptive and dangerous ones. On a social level, there is an inherent danger of normalizing behaviors of sexual harassment and sexual abuse. Implications of sexual harassment and sexual abuse on mental health are further addressed, and suggestions for future practices are made accordingly. Ultimately, it is recommended that practitioners are fully educated on this topic, as consciousness and knowledge are essential tools for the prevention of these types of violence.
Chapter
Intimate image abuse is a recent, endemic phenomenon which raises multiple legal issues and presents a significant challenge for the traditional institutions of law and criminal justice. The nature of this phenomenon requires considering the traditional complexities of regulating privacy, sexual offences, and cybercrimes, alongside the social and cultural issue of what may be considered ‘intimate’, ‘private’, or indeed ‘sexual’. Since the harm experienced by victims of intimate image abuse is particularly serious and involves disparate legal interests, criminal law has been invoked as one of the solutions, but it is unclear what its role and limits should be. The law’s approach should avoid any moralistic attitude, trying to achieve a balance between sexual autonomy and the protection of sexual privacy. At the same time, the needs of criminalization must be balanced with the traditional principles of criminal law. Criminalizing Intimate Image Abuse strives primarily to generate new conceptual and theoretical frameworks to address the legal responses to this phenomenon, by bringing together a number of scholars involved in the study of intimate image abuse over recent years. This volume compares the solutions developed in different legal systems. Once the criminalization of intimate image abuse, as well as its theoretical and practical limits have been established, the analysis focuses on possible new legal strategies, complementary or alternative to traditional criminal justice, such as restorative justice. Finally, in order to achieve an effective safeguard for victim-survivors, the book deals with the role of Internet Service Providers and bystanders in preventing intimate image abuse.
Conference Paper
This paper uses online dating as a context to explore futures for sexual consent technology: systems that mediate how partners exchange consent in order to prevent nonconsensual sex. Motivated by evidence that sexual consent is already mediated by computers in ways that challenge perceptions of sexual agency, we present a participatory design study in the United States with 17 women and LGBTQ+ stakeholders (demographics at disproportionate risk of sexual violence). Contrary to consent apps that are used right before sex to record irrevocable consent, participants envisioned alternative consent technology being used across online and offline interaction to normalize candid dialogue about sexual expectations and informed verbal consent throughout sex. Findings demonstrate opportunity for dating apps and associated technologies to foster voluntary adoption of affirmative consent, which has been widely advocated in public health for sexual violence prevention yet historically under-adopted by the general public. Content warning: graphic descriptions of sexual activity.
Article
Objective: Misperception of sexual intent is linked to incidence of sexual assault. The present study tested the effects of gender, alcohol consumption, and leaving a party together, in isolation and in interaction, on perceptions of sexual intent. Participants: Undergraduates (N = 438) completed an online survey between Winter 2017 and Winter 2018. Methods: Participants read one of eight versions of a vignette about a social interaction between male and female college-aged acquaintances and rated the targets' sexual interest in each other. Who was consuming alcohol (both targets, female only, male only, or neither) and whether the targets left together were manipulated. Results: Alcohol consumption and leaving together interacted. Leaving together signified to participants that both targets had greater sexual intent. When targets left separately, participants viewed both targets as less sexually interested in each other when only the female was drinking. Conclusions: Implications for sexual assault on college campuses are discussed.
Article
A movement in higher education policy within the United States is being made to require affirmative consent: a verbal ‘yes’ or some form of clear nonverbal communication that means yes. As a means to address nonverbal communication in sexual situations, the authors focused this study around the question of what do traditionally-aged college students believe constitutes nonverbal consent? Participants included 27 undergraduate students, ages ranging from 18 to 24 years. Findings revealed a series of 12 nonverbal behaviours that exhibited different forms of what the participants saw as constituting affirmative sexual consent. These behaviours included sex noises and/or heavy breathing, nodding, display or use of a contraceptive, arousal, and removing another individual’s clothing, among others. The authors utilise Sexual Scripts Theory and previous literature to analyse the findings. The main key implication from this study is that without a contextual setting, nonverbal indicators of sexual consent are difficult to interpret and highly conditional.
Article
Affirmative Consent (AC) policies have become a popular way for universities across the US to address the issue of sexual assault on campus. This study utilizes a sample of over 1400 university students to address student self-identified understanding of AC, perceptions of AC policy effectiveness at decreasing sexual assaults on campus, and self-reported behavior change. Results show that about 80% of the sample reported understanding AC, a slight majority of the sample (53%) believed AC policies were effective, and only 20.5% of respondents reported changing their own behavior as a result of AC policies. Exposure to AC through professors or administrators increased AC understanding and perceptions of effectiveness. Knowing others who changed their own behavior was significantly related to understanding of AC, perceived effectiveness of AC, and personal self-reported behavior change. Additionally, issue salience as measured through self-reported concern about sexual assault on campus and self-reported fear of sexual assault on campus was related to perceived effectiveness and self-reported behavior change. Multivariate analyses explored these issues further and raise questions of the ability of these policies alone to combat sexual assault on campus.
Article
Introduction: Withdrawing consent for sex may be difficult for young women due to gendered sexual scripts and male persistence. Method: 40 students from Canadian universities (31 women; Mean age = 20.20 years; 75% heterosexual) were asked open-ended questions about sexual experiences and consent; data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Women perceived that: (1) women were responsible for communicating consent, (2) they were unaware it was acceptable to withdraw consent or did not know how to, (3) male partners often persisted in response to withdrawal of consent, and (4) these experiences factored into compliance. Conclusion: Sexual consent education, at least in North America, should increase emphasis on withdrawing consent.
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Der Beitrag analysiert am Beispiel des Phänomens ‚Aftercare‘ das Verhältnis von Fürsorge und Männlichkeit im Kontext schmerz- und machterotischer Begehrensweisen. Anhand von qualitativen Leitfadeninterviews wird rekonstruiert, wie Männlichkeit von BDSMPraktizierenden im Kontext der Nachsorge gedeutet und hergestellt wird. Aus einer praxistheoretischen Perspektive und vor dem Hintergrund des Modells der caring masculinity nach Karla Elliott, das um den Bereich von Intimität und Sexualität erweitert wird, werden die Fürsorgepraktiken theoretisiert. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, dass Aftercare einen Baustein innerhalb einer Reihe körperlich-affektiver und verbalkommunikativer Praktiken bildet, mit denen Konsens her- und sichergestellt werden soll. Eingeübt werden fürsorgliche Werthaltungen, wobei ein Orientierungsdilemma im Hinblick auf einen mit Männlichkeit verknüpften Autonomieanspruch sichtbar wird.
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Sexual assault prevention initiatives focused on promoting affirmative consent have gained widespread interest in the last decade. These initiatives emphasize explicit communication of sexual consent as a mechanism to reduce rates of sexual assault. However, what constitutes “sexual consent” is not always clear. To better elucidate sexual consent, this chapter comprises a review of scientific research related to sexual consent communication, attitudes and norms associated with sexual consent, and sexual assault prevention initiatives that include components of sexual consent promotion, specifically focusing on young men and boys. This chapter also addresses sociocultural norms regarding gender and sexuality that may influence how sexual consent is communicated and understood. Given that men are at greater risk for sexual assault perpetration, this chapter focuses on factors related to masculinity and gender, deconstructing how these attitudes, norms, and beliefs may influence consent communication and our approach to sexual assault prevention.
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Social concern about sexual practices and sexual consent among young adults has increased signifi�cantly in recent years, and intoxication has often played a key role in such debates. While many studies have long suggested that alcohol plays a role in facilitating (casual) sexual encounters, intoxication has largely either been conceptualized as a risk factor, or researchers have focused on the pharmacological effects of alcohol on behaviors associated with sexual interaction and consent. To date little work has explored how young adults define and negotiate acceptable and unacceptable levels of intoxication during sexual encounters, nor the ways in which different levels of intoxication influence gendered sexual scripts and meanings of consent. This paper explores the latter two research questions using data from 145 in-depth, qualitative interviews with cisgender, heterosexual young adults ages 18–25 in the San Francisco Bay Area. In examining these interview data, by exploring the relationship between intoxication and sexual consent, and the ways in which gender plays out in notions of acceptable and unacceptable intoxicated sexual encounters, we highlight how different levels of intoxication signal different sexual scripts. Narratives about sexual encounters at low levels of intoxication highlighted the role of intoxication in achieving sexual sociability, but they also relied on the notion that intoxicated consent was dependent on the social relationship between the partners outside drinking contexts. Narratives about sexual encounters in heavy drinking situations were more explicitly gendered, often in keeping with traditionally gendered sexual scripts. In general we found that when men discussed their own levels of intoxication, their narratives were more focused on sexual performance and low status sex partners, while women’s and some men’s narratives about women’s levels of intoxication were focused on women’s consent, safety, and respectability. Finally, some participants rely on “consent as a contract” and “intoxication parity”—the idea that potential sexual partners should be equally intoxicated—to handle relations of power in interpersonal sexual scripts. Since these notions are sometimes deployed strategically, we suggest that they may serve to “black-box” gendered inequalities in power between the parties involved.
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According to the traditional sexual script, men are the initiators and women the restrictors of sexual activities (McCormick, Brannigan, & LaPlante, 1984). While recent attitudes have shifted toward a more egalitarian standard (DeLamater & MacCorquodale, 1979) and sexual experiences are becoming more permissive (Finlay, Starnes, & Alvarez, 1985), it is not known whether this has resulted in changes in sexual scripts. Therefore, 50 men and 55 women were used in a self‐monitoring procedure to record three aspects of sexual frequencies: sexual initiations, responses to initiations and considering initiations over a two‐week period. The results indicate that men and women are guided by a similar sexual script with regard to responding to initiations and considering initiations, but not with regard to initiation of sexual activity. Men still initiate sexual activity more frequently than women. It was concluded that men and women still appear to be guided by the traditional sexual script with respect to initiations, but women may no longer serve as the restrictors of sexual activity as women respond positively to initiations as frequently as men do.
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Little is known about how women and men communicate sexual consent. In this study, 378 undergraduate women and men completed a questionnaire designed to examine how they would interpret their date's and their own consent signals in hypothetical scenarios and how they actually communicate consent in heterosexual situations. Although there were no gender differences in ratings of the hypothetical date's behavior, men rated their own behaviors in hypothetical scenarios as more representative of consent than women rated their own behaviors, suggesting that women and men may mean different things when they use the same signals. There were some gender differences in how they conveyed consent in actual situations; furthermore, both women and men reported most often showing their consent to sexual intercourse by making no response. The effect sizes of the gender differences were small. The results suggest that gender‐based miscommunications about consent are possible but unlikely. Thus, miscommunication is an unlikely explanation for rape.
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Through empirical studies we explored the perceived effectiveness and reported usage of tactics to promote sexual encounters. In the first study (N = 58) we identified 122 acts and 34 tactics for promoting sexual encounters. In the second study (N = 50) we examined the perceived effectiveness of each tactic when used by a man and when used by a woman. In the third study (N = 100) we examined the reported frequency with which men and women performed each tactic, as well as the frequency of beingtherecipient of each tactic from the other sex. Tactics were generally perceived as more effective for women than for men. Women were particularly effective, however, when conveying signals of immediate sexual access and enhanced physical appearance. Despite the effectiveness of signaling immediate sexual access, women performed these acts only infrequently. The most effective male tactics for promoting a sexual encounter involved investing time and attention and communicating love and commitment to a woman. Overall, the sexes showed much similarity in what types of tactics they performed, despite the large differences in perceived effectiveness, largely because women typically refrained from performing the most effective tactics for promoting sexual encounters. Discussion focuses on a framework for understanding the sex of actor differences in tactic effectiveness and performance and on examining the factors that likely contribute to sexual miscommunication.
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Tested 2 hypotheses implicit in the sex-role socialization analysis of rape: that reactions to rape may be affected (a) by the situational context in which a rape is portrayed and (b) by individual differences in sex role stereotyping. 289 male and female college students were classified as either high or low in sex-role stereotyping. They were then randomly assigned to read 1 of 3 sexual depictions (mutually consenting intercourse, stranger rape, and acquaintance rape) and were asked to indicate their sexual arousal and perceptions of the depictions. Male Ss were also asked to indicate the likelihood of their committing rape if they could be assured that no one would know. Results indicate sexual arousal and perceptual differences in reactions to the acquaintance rape vs stranger rape, and as expected, these reactions were mediated by Ss' sex-role stereotyping. High sex-role stereotyping Ss showed sexual arousal patterns like those typically found with identified rapist populations. Of the male Ss, 44% showed some likelihood of raping. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Examined the incidence, meaning, and function of rape in a cross-cultural sample of 156 tribal societies from the assumption that human sexual behavior, although based in a biological need, is an expression of cultural forces. Two general hypotheses guided the research: (1) The incidence of rape varies cross-culturally, and (2) a high incidence of rape is embedded in a distinguishably different cultural configuration than a low incidence of rape. Data suggest that rape is part of a cultural configuration that includes interpersonal violence, male dominance, and sexual separation. Rape is interpreted as the sexual expression of these forces in societies where the harmony between men and their environment has been severely disrupted. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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This article describes the "rape myth" and tests hypotheses derived from social psychological and feminist theory that acceptance of rape myths can be predicted from attitudes such as sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual conservatism, and acceptance of interpersonal violence. Personality characteristics, background characteristics, and personal exposure to rape, rape victims, and rapists are other factors used in predictions. Results from regression analysis of interview data indicate that the higher the sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and acceptance of interpersonal violence, the greater a respondent's acceptance of rape myths. In addition, younger and better educated people reveal less stereotypic, adversarial, and proviolence attitudes and less rape myth acceptance. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding and changing this cultural orientation toward sexual assault.
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Excerpts are presented from a book entitled Sexual Coercion and Reproductive Health: A Focus on Research published by the Population Council in 1995. All societies have forms of sexual violence that are socially proscribed and others that are tolerated by social customs. Some argue that there is no such thing as marital rape because of the very meaning of marriage. Most societies condemn sex between adults and children and forced sexual intercourse with an unmarried virgin. However, in many societies forced sex within marriage is accepted. Most cultural definitions of abuse are devoid of the volition, perceptions, and feelings of the woman. Coercive sex can be conceived as a continuum from transgressive to tolerated coercive sex. Some types of coercive sex are in transition, for instance, in the United States acts for which the girl would have been blamed 20 years ago are increasingly being termed date rape. The psychologist Patricia Rozee suggests that female choice should the benchmark for the definition of rape. At a seminar on sexual coercion participants endorsed the idea of a universal standard for identifying coerced sex across cultures. The ultimate goal is to make possible voluntary, safe sexuality for all people. Although male dominance has persisted in sexual matters, no major religion or social code of ethics condones sexual violence. The appropriate definition of rape or coerced sex was also discussed in situations when the word itself was not used by the victim. When interviewed, exiled Iranian women living in the United States revealed that for most of them their wedding nights in Iran had been violent and traumatic; many had been held down by relatives for what they now (but not at the time) described as rape and torture.
Article
This study looks at the specifics of consent for sexual behavior of heterosexual college students. It describes the sequence of behaviors during an encounter where both partners wanted to engage in sexual intercourse or other intimate sexual behavior, and said yes and meant yes. It also describes situations wherein individuals used "token resistance", that is, they said no when they really meant yes. There were no studies found that examined consent for any sexual behavior except for intercourse in the context of date/acquaintance rape. Token resistance has been studied for rates of occurrence, but not for the effects it has on an encounter. A questionnaire was used to collect the data with assurance of anonymity. The questionnaire was completed by 264 female and 158 male college students from an ethnically diverse population in Northern California during 1994. Results, based on the 192 female and 118 male participants who reported encounters where they said yes and meant yes, indicate that the participants were involved in very diverse sequences of behaviors, but they fell into general patterns for men and women. Consent was given both verbally and/or nonverbally for each of the behaviors some of the time, but much sexual activity proceeds without specific permission. More permission was given nonverbally, and more consent was given by males than females. Participants' feelings after the encounter became significantly more positive with increasing experience level with the partner. Permission giving did not significantly change with experience level. Token resistance happens in relationships with all levels of experience, and slightly more often by males. It has the effect of reducing the overall level of sexual activity and having a less positive feeling after the encounter. There were significant sex differences in the reasons given for using token resistance.
Article
Two of the major concerns in a burgeoning rape literature have been: (1) to determine whether people believe the myths about rape and (2) investigating the observers' attributions of responsibility for rape. In this paper, these issues are studied by developing an acceptance of the rape myths scale which is administered to a college student sample. The findings suggest that: (1) most students reject the more obvious of the rape myths, while evidencing problems with “subtle” ones, (2) gender differences do exist, with women being significantly more likely to reject many of the rape myths, and (3) interpersonal factors, rather than structural ones, are believed to be the causes of rape.
Article
This article describes the "rape myth" and tests hypotheses derived from social psychological and feminist theory that acceptance of rape myths can be predicted from attitudes such as sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual conservatism, and acceptance of interpersonal violence. Personality characteristics, background characteristics, and personal exposure to rape, rape victims, and rapists are other factors used in predictions. Results from regression analysis of interview data indicate that the higher the sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and acceptance of interpersonal violence, the greater a respondent's acceptance of rape myths. In addition, younger and better educated people reveal less stereotypic, adversarial, and proviolence attitudes and less rape myth acceptance. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding and changing this cultural orientation toward sexual assault.
Article
The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
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A hypothesis derived from marital rape laws suggests that women are perceived as obligated to have sex by precedence. Subjects who read a rape scenario were more likely to perceive that the resisting woman should have sex and less likely to label the act as rape if the couple had had coitus 10 times before (high precedence) than once or never An alternative hypothesis derived from the common law on `easements by prescription" suggests that sexual precedence should affect men and women equally. In a second study, either the man or the woman refused sex after foreplay. Men as well as women were perceived to be obligated by sexual precedence. Survey results are cited that show that male and female actors' compliant sexual behaviors are related to precedence. The results are explained as reflecting norms that function to preserve mutually satisfactory relationships.
Article
The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
Article
Although our societal attitudes about sexuality continue to be dominated by the religious view that sexual desires are to be restrained and sexual pleasures to be avoided, the degree to which religiosity actually influences the sexuality of women remains a matter of conjecture. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the relationship, if any, between religiosity and the sexual behaviors and sexual satisfaction of women. An anonymous questionnaire concerning sexual attitudes, sexual behaviors, and female sexual response was administered to 868 female professional nurses in 15 states. Significant differences were found between the degree of religiosity and the age at initiation of sexual intercourse and attitudes toward masturbation. Similar to earlier findings, there were no significant differences in sexual satisfaction between women with high‐frequency and low‐frequency church attendance.
Article
In 1960 sociologist Ira L. Reiss predicted that the coming decade would bring revolutionary changes in American attitudes toward sexuality. And, indeed, by the end of the sixties American society had begun to experience a sexual revolution that swept away many of the constraints imposed by antiquated Victorian mores. In "An End to Shame," Reiss argues that America is ripe for another sexual revolution, one that will reduce our alarming rates of AIDS [Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome], teenage pregnancy, rape, and the sexual abuse of children—currently the highest in the Western World! These problems have produced a crisis that threatens the integrity and future of our society. In response to this crisis, Reiss presents a direct, lucid, and challenging analysis of America's sexual problems. He demonstrates how our current sexual malaise developed out of dogmatic attitudes, long-held misconceptions about sexuality, and intolerance toward alternative viewpoints and lifestyles. He proposes instead a pluralistic approach to sexuality, one based on tolerance of all types of sexual relations that adhere to the principles of honesty, equality, and responsibility. Reiss makes a compelling case that only by altering our outmoded notions about sexuality can we even begin to manage and ultimately to solve the serious sexual problems of the nineties. He devotes separate chapters to such important and timely issues as sex education for children, teenage sex, rape, AIDS and condoms, pornography, sex therapy, and the relation of religion to sex. In the final chapter, Reiss calls for the formation of a new organization, "People for Sexual Pluralism," whose membership will be drawn from the growing number of Americans who recognize the seriousness of our sexual crisis and want to do something about it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
In two related studies, 268 male undergraduates rated the justifiability of date rape under various circumstances. As predicted, rape was rated as significantly more justifiable (a) if the couple went to the man's apartment rather than to a religious function, (b) if the woman asked the man out rather than vice versa (significant in Study 1 only), and (c) if the man paid all the dating expenses rather than splitting them with the woman. It was also predicted that men who were classified as traditional on the Attitudes toward Women Scale would rate rape as more justifiable than nontraditional men, especially under the three conditions mentioned above. These results were always in the predicted directions, but did not always reach statistical significance. Two explanations for the differences between traditional and nontraditional men are explored.
Article
A theory is proposed that there may be as many as five varieties of courtship rape. Each type is described as arising at a different stage of a romantic relationship in terms of both the length of the relationship and previous sexual activity. Beginning date rape occurs during a couple's first few dates. Early date rape occurs after several dates but before the couple has established sexual ground rules. Relational rape occurs after the couple's sexual ground rules have been established. The remaining two forms of rape occur after a couple has or had an active sexual relationship, and they are distinguished by the presence or absence of battering. When this form occurs without physical abuse, it may be essentially the same as relational rape. Suggestions and hypotheses for testing this model are provided.
Article
Three crises facing sexology are described: what is happening with sexuality in the culture, what is happening with sexuality in academia, and what is happening with sexuality in medicine. In each case, the response of sexology has been benign neglect, disinterest, and a failure to understand the profound implications of these challenges for a field that considers itself the premiere source of accurate facts and comprehensive theories about sexuality. As a consequence we are losing control of our subject matter, and we are losing our professional legitimacy. A wake-up call is offered for sexologists to become more knowledgeable, for our paradigms and organizations to become more inclusive, and for our research methods to become more sophisticated.
The Antioch College sexual offense prevention policy
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