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Sexual aggression is a problem among college students worldwide, and a growing body of research has identified variables associated with an increased risk of victimization and perpetration. Among these, sexuality-related cognitions, such as sexual scripts, sexual self-esteem, perceived realism of pornography, and acceptance of sexual coercion, play a major role. The current experimental study aimed to show that these cognitive risk factors of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration are amenable to change, which is a critical condition for evidence-based intervention efforts. College students in Germany (N = 324) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a treatment group designed to change participants' sexual scripts for consensual sex with regard to the role of alcohol consumption, casual sex, and ambiguous communication of sexual intentions as risk factors for sexual aggression (EG1), a treatment group designed to promote sexual self-esteem, challenge the perceived realism of pornography, and reduce the acceptance of sexual coercion (EG2), and a non-treatment control group (CG). Baseline (T1), post-experimental (T2), and follow-up (T3) measures were taken across an eight-week period. Sexual scripts contained fewer risk factors for sexual aggression in EG1 than in EG2 and CG at T3. Sexual self-esteem was enhanced in EG2 at T2 relative to the other two groups. Acceptance of sexual coercion was lower in EG2 than in EG1 and CG at T2 and T3. No effect was found for perceived realism of pornography. The findings are discussed in terms of targeting cognitive risk factors as a basis for intervention programs.
Objective: The study replicated and extended a study by Peterson, Beagley, McCallum, and Artime (2019), who studied differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors in men who were both victims and perpetrators of sexual assault, only victims, only perpetrators, or neither. They found a heightened rate of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and some evidence of greater traumatic sexualization in men who were both victims and perpetrators.
Method: Our sample consisted of 2,149 college students (39.6% male) in Germany. We measured sexual aggression perpetration and victimization, CSA, sexual self-esteem, depressive symptoms, risky sexual scripts, and risky sexual behavior.
Results: Perpetration rates were significantly higher among victims than among nonvictims, and the victim-perpetrator group scored highest on CSA. A significant effect of group membership was found on measures of depressive symptoms, risky sexual scripts, and risky sexual behavior in both sex groups, mainly due to differences of the victim-only, perpetrator-only, and victim-perpetrator groups from the nonvictim-nonperpetrator group. The effect on sexual self-esteem was found for women only. Few differences emerged between the victim-only, perpetrator-only, and victim-perpetrator groups. Most associations remained significant when controlling for CSA.
Conclusion: We found a substantial overlap between victimization and perpetration but no evidence for a special vulnerability of the victim-perpetrator group. Instead, experiences of victimization, perpetration, or both were linked to more negative correlates compared with individuals who were neither victims nor perpetrators. The findings need to be interpreted with caution due to the small number of individuals in the perpetrator-only and victim-perpetrator groups.
Sexual scripts serve as cognitive representations of typical elements of sexual interactions that guide sexual behavior. To the extent that cognitive scripts for consensual sex comprise elements associated with a risk of experiencing nonconsensual sex, they may be indirectly linked to sexual victimization via risky sexual behavior. A longitudinal study with 2,425 college students in Germany (58% female) examined pathways from sexual scripts for consensual sex, sexual behavior, and sexual victimization over three data waves separated by 12-month intervals. Sexual scripts and behavior were defined as risky to the extent that they include known vulnerability factors for sexual victimization (casual sex, alcohol consumption, ambiguous communication of sexual intentions). Path analyses confirmed that more risky sexual scripts prospectively predicted more risky sexual behavior, which predicted higher odds of sexual victimization. The findings held for men and women and participants with exclusively opposite-sex and both same- and opposite-sex contacts. Moreover, reciprocal influences between risky scripts and risky sexual behavior were found over time, confirming the proposed mutual reinforcement of scripts and behavior. The findings have implications for conceptualizing the role of scripts for consensual sex as vulnerability factors for sexual victimization among women and men and may inform intervention efforts.
The link between pornography use, normative acceptance of sexual aggression, and the presence of risk factors of sexual aggression in sexual scripts for consensual sexual interactions was studied in a sample of 197 adolescents in Germany. Risk factors included sex after only a short acquaintanceship, alcohol and drug use in sexual interactions, and ambiguous communication of sexual intentions. In addition to a measure of overall pornography use, exposure to portrayals of consensual sex, coerced sex and degrading sex was measured. Almost all participants had seen pornografic material at least once, just under half had seen depictions of coerced sex. Significant correlations were found between all measures of pornography use and the presence of risk factors of sexual aggression in consensual sexual scripts. Violent pornography usage showed a positive correlation with the normative acceptance of sexual aggression that was partly accounted for by sexual scripts. The findings are discussed with regard to the significance of pornografic media contents in the process of adolescents' sexual socialization.
The study is the first to provide data on risk factors for sexual aggression in male college students in Brazil. A total of N = 286 participants took part in the study, of whom a subsample of n = 120 participated in two measurements separated by a 6-month interval. Cognitive (i.e., risky sexual scripts, normative beliefs), behavioral (i.e., pornography use, sexual behavior patterns), and biographical (i.e., childhood abuse) risk factors were linked to sexual aggression both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, with the path models for the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses demonstrating good fit with the data consistent with the hypotheses. The extent to which risk factors for sexual aggression (alcohol consumption, casual sex, and ambiguous communication) were included and normatively accepted in participants' cognitive scripts for consensual sex was linked to sexual aggression through risky sexual behavior. Risky sexual behavior was further predicted by childhood abuse, and pornography use was linked to sexual aggression via risky sexual scripts. The findings contribute evidence from Brazil to the international database on risk factors for sexual aggression in male college students.