A Content Analysis of Sexual Consent and Refusal Communication in Mainstream Films

The Self-Reported Sexual Real-World Consequences of Sex Doll Use

It is a growing concern that the use of sex dolls and robots could affect human sexuality. This concern has led to a ban of child-like sex dolls in several countries and a call to ban adult-like sex dolls and robots by some scholars. However, empirical data is largely missing supporting this claim. Here, we present retrospective self-reported quantitative and qualitative data of a large sample (N = 224, 90.5% men, Mean age = 31 years, SD = 14.2) of teleiophilic (i.e., sexual orientation toward adults) and pedo-hebephilic participants. Using an online survey, we found that users reported an overall reduction in sexuality-related behaviors (e.g., porn consumption or visiting of sex workers) in response to doll ownership. Users in a relationship with a human were less affected by doll use, while those in a relationship with a doll reported greater effects. Interestingly, pedo-hebephilic users reported a greater reduction of sexual compulsivity compared to teleiophilic participants following doll use. Additionally, pedo-hebephilic participants more often reported acting out of illegal sexual fantasies with their dolls and a loss of interest in (sexual) intimacy with real children through doll use in the qualitative data. These self-reported data challenge the view that doll use is dangerously affecting human sexuality and instead suggest that dolls may be used as a sexual outlet for potentially dangerous and illegal (sexual) fantasies.

Camsites as a Context for Sexual Consent Education: User Experiences

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.

"I've Learned to Convert My Sensations into Sounds": Understanding During-Sex Sexual Communication

Research generally supports the idea that sexual communication is beneficial to partners in committed relationships. However, much existing sexual communication research has a verbal communication bias and has examined sexual communication in non-sexual contexts, neglecting a wide variability of other forms of communication that occur during sex. Thus, from a sexual scripts theoretical framework, the purpose of the present study was to: (1) explore how individuals communicate needs, desires, pleasure, and displeasure to their partners during sex; (2) investigate perceptions of during-sex sexual communication's purposes; and (3) document individuals' perceived barriers and facilitators to during-sex sexual communication. Data from 27 interviews conducted among individuals in committed different-gender relationships (15 women, 11 men, 1 queer person; 21-68 years old), were analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants reported communicating using a combination of verbal, vocal, and bodily forms of communication. Most participants indicated that communicating during sex increased sexual pleasure and emotional intimacy and was useful for clarifying doubts and reducing insecurities. Many individuals nonetheless reported avoiding verbal communication during sex to preserve the mood, protect a partner's feelings, and avoid experiencing negative emotions and a partner's judgment. Sexual communication was also described as a skill that is developed over time and through the development of sexual subjectivity. Implications for sexual script theory and future sexual communication research are discussed.

Sexual Consent Norms in a Sexually Diverse Sample

Sexual consent has received increased attention in mainstream media, educational, and political settings since the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017. However, long before #MeToo, sexual consent has been a core practice among people who engage in Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism, and Masochism (BDSM). This study examined sexual consent norms among a sexually diverse sample, including people who practice BDSM (n = 116), people who identify with another sexual minority group, such as swingers and sex workers (n = 114), and people who did not identify with a sexual minority group, termed sexual majority group members (n = 158). Explicit consent for both BDSM- and non-BDSM-related activities was rated as more common (descriptively normative) among people who were a member of the BDSM community compared to majority participants. Further, BDSM participants rated consent discussions as less sexually disruptive compared to majority participants. We found no significant group differences in the extent to which people thought sexual consent should be discussed. We also discuss findings from an open-ended question asking participants to recall a recent sexual experience with a new partner. This study demonstrates variability in consent norms between groups and points to the potential to shift sexual consent behaviors among majority participants.

Is Sexual Consent Sexy?: Investigating the Effects of a Televised Depiction of Verbal Sexual Consent on College Students' Sexual Consent Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions

Although depictions of sexual consent are rare in the media, such portrayals have the potential to instruct young people on the procedural details of sexual consent. Taking an entertainment-education (E-E) perspective, we examined the effects of a televised depiction of sexual consent that contained verbal sexual consent, versus a televised depiction that only included nonverbal sexual consent, versus a no-exposure control group to test for changes in college students' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward sexual consent. In the pretest-posttest experimental design, those who were assigned to the nonverbal video condition reported less favorable attitudes about sexual consent between pretest and posttest. Additionally, interpersonal liking was an important facilitator of the E-E impact of the verbal sexual consent condition; the more the participants liked the characters in the verbal condition, the more positively about sexual consent they felt and the more likely they were to plan to engage in sexual consent. Narrative engagement did not mediate the effects of experimental condition on sexual consent attitudes and behavioral intentions. The implications for E-E are discussed.

"I Can Tell You Wanna F***": A Content Analysis of Sexual Communication in Popular Song Lyrics

Given that exposure to sexual messages in song lyrics can influence sociocultural norms and expectations surrounding consent communication between partners, we sought to understand the types of messages regarding sexual initiation and consent language that are available to media consumers. Through the lens of sexual script theory, we conducted a quantitative content analysis of sexual consent in pop (n = 197), hip-hop (n = 193), and country songs (n = 194) from 2016 to 2019. Differences in these messages were examined across singer gender, music genre, and time (pre- vs. post-#MeToo). Results indicated that references to sexual demands (e.g., "Strip that down") and sexual preferences (e.g., "I want it slow") were the most common types of sexual communication, appearing in approximately one-third of the singing parts included in the sample. Sexual suggestions (e.g., "Let's get nasty") and sexual requests (e.g., "Can I hit it?"), on the other hand, were the least common. References to inferred consent (e.g., "I can tell you wanna f***") appeared in approximately one-fifth of the singing parts. Both sexual demands and sexual preferences were more likely to appear in pop compared to hip-hop and country songs; however, these sexual communication messages did not significantly differ by male and female singers. Sexual requests were significantly more likely to appear in pre-#MeToo song lyrics. The messages embedded in popular songs may help to reinforce problematic scripts around sexual consent.

Sexual Consent on Television: Differing Portrayal Effects on Adolescent Viewers

We conducted two studies to examine the portrayal of sexual consent and refusal in adolescent-directed programing and the effects of viewing this content on adolescents. In a quantitative content analysis, nonverbal consent cues were more prevalent than verbal consent cues. The presence of consent cues did not significantly differ by character gender, relationship status, or sexual behavior. Using a three-way between-subjects experiment, we examined the influence of exposure to media depictions of verbal sexual consent on adolescents' intentions to seek verbal sexual consent (n = 402, 61.4% girls, ages 12-18, M = 15.8, SD = 2.1). Exposure to verbal consent positively influenced intentions to seek verbal consent via increased positive attitudes toward women. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Sexual Scripts and Sexual Consent: Gender Stereotypes, Music-Media Messages, and Sexual Consent Expectancies Among College Men and Women

The pervasiveness of sexual assault among college women prompted examination of college students' sexual-consent expectancies using sexual scripting theory as a framework. We aimed to understand how personal beliefs, experiences with sexual violence, and dominant cultural gendered sexual scripts in music media inform sexual-consent expectancies among a sample of primarily White heterosexual college students at a northwestern university (n = 364). Participants viewed music videos with sexual and objectifying content and reported their perceptions of how women were portrayed. Linear mixed modeling with Maximum Likelihood with interactions by biological sex revealed associations between past sexual victimization and lower expectancies to adhere to a sexual partner's consent wishes. Men with a history of perpetrating sexual violence had lower expectancies to ask for consent, and women with more traditional sexual stereotypes had lower expectancies to seek consent or refuse unwanted sex. Having lower expectancies to adhere to a partner's consent wishes was associated with holding more traditional sexual stereotypes for both men and women. Participants who perceived women as powerlessness in viewed music videos had lower expectancies to ask for consent from a sexual partner, to refuse unwanted sexual advances, and to adhere to a decision regarding sexual consent. Through the lens of sexual scripting theory, results advance understanding of how the intersection of biological sex, experiences of sexual violence, gendered beliefs, and cultural scripts in music media inform young adults' sexual expectancies and potential for sexual risk. Implications for prevention include addressing gendered sexual scripts to reduce ambiguity around sexual consent among college students. Media-based interventions are discussed as a strategy toward this end.

"They are Assuming That We are Going to Accuse Them of Rape, and We are Assuming That They are Going to Rape us": A Developmental Perspective on Emerging Adults' Consent Conversations Post #MeToo

Prevalence of sexual assault remains high on American college campuses, and sexual consent education is lacking within school-based sexual health education programming. Much empirical research has aimed to reduce sexual violence through a deeper understanding of college students' perceptions of sexual consent. However, researchers have not yet examined the impact of broader social discourse, such as that initiated by the #MeToo movement, on emerging adults' conceptualizations of sexual consent. Gendered focus groups were conducted with 34 college students at a large midwestern university in spring of 2019. Qualitative analyses using a phenomenological framework revealed a developmental process of consent education shaped by socialized sexual scripts and public discourse of the #MeToo movement. Four distinct themes emerged: (1) Introductions to Consent in Childhood, (2) Lack of Sexual Consent Education in Adolescence, (3) The Nuanced College Context, and (4) Consent in the Era of #MeToo. Findings reveal that consent is introduced in childhood, outside the context of sexuality, but is generally not revisited within the context of sexual consent by parents or educators during adolescence, leaving media messaging and socialized sexual scripts to serve as guides for sexual consent. This lack of sexual consent education in adolescence then leaves emerging adults unprepared for nuanced sexual experiences in the college context and unable to critically engage with public discourse surrounding consent such as the #MeToo movement, which has caused both fearful and positive outcomes. Findings support the need for earlier and more comprehensive education about sexual consent in childhood and adolescence and the need for college sexual assault prevention programs to include further instruction on navigating ambiguous sexual consent experiences.

Sexual Communication between Adolescent Partners: A Scoping Review and Directions for Future Research

Sexual communication between adolescent partners is an important component of sexual health and wellbeing. Over 40 years of research on adolescent sexual communication has yielded rich information, yet there remain gaps in our understanding of the communication process. The purpose of this scoping review was to synthesize the body of research on adolescent sexual communication to identify how communication has been conceptualized, how researchers have measured communication, and what theoretical frameworks have been applied across the literature. We identified 198 assessments of sexual communication across 119 quantitative studies. This work included 127,489 adolescents (M_age = 15.97) from 15 countries (81.5% U.S.-based). Most studies relied on self-reports (93.4%) and surveyed only one member of a couple (97.5%). The definition of sexual communication was highly varied across the literature: in half of assessments (52.0%) sexual communication was operationalized as a behavior-the verbal or nonverbal exchange of messages about sex-whereas the remaining half of assessments captured social-cognitive aspects of communication (e.g., communication self-efficacy, fear/anxiety). There was also a tendency for investigators to create their own idiosyncratic instruments: half of studies (48.9%) used instruments created by the research team with limited or no discussion of reliability/validity. Regarding the topic of communication, a third of assessments (33.8%) focused exclusively on condom communication and another quarter (24.0%) focused on other safer-sex issues (e.g., STDs, abstinence). Notably absent were studies focused on communication surrounding consent or sexual pleasure. Also absent was a guiding conceptual model or theory that could unify this body of work. Overall, results highlight gaps and inconsistencies in how partner sexual communication has been conceptualized, measured, and theorized about in previous work. We provide several recommendations for future theory-building efforts as well as rigorous, multimethod empirical investigations of adolescent sexual communication that would further our understanding of this important aspect of adolescent sexual wellbeing.

Perceived barriers and rewards to sexual consent communication: A qualitative analysis

Increasingly, affirmative consent - direct, unambiguous and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity (Craig & McKinley, 2015) - is the standard being adopted by educational institutions in North America (Bennett, 2016). Yet, studies show that most individuals continue to communicate consent through nonresistance (Jozkowski et al., 2014a). Given this discrepancy, it is critical to understand what factors prevent individuals from engaging in affirmative consent. Furthermore, a better understanding of the perceived rewards of consent communication could incentivize the adoption of affirmative consent. To understand the range of perceived barriers and rewards, we conducted an online, qualitative study where 231 participants answered two open-ended questions. We used inductive content analysis to categorize participants' perceptions of sexual consent barriers and rewards into four general content areas: (1) Communication Quality, (2) Relational and Emotional Experiences, (3) Sexual Quality and (4) Safety and Coercion. These perceived rewards and barriers were examined through the lens of the Information-Motivation-Behavioural Skills Model. Participants viewed consent communication not only as a means of ensuring safety but also as a way to enhance relational and sexual quality. However, they also perceived barriers in all three of these domains as well as barriers to ensuring that sexual consent communication is fluid and easily understood. These findings provide important avenues for future research investigating how individuals reconcile perceived rewards and costs of affirmative consent communication. We also suggest ways to enhance sexual education by discussing potential rewards and validating the normative nature of fears and anxieties around affirmative consent.

Assessing models of concurrent substance use and sexual consent cues in mainstream films

ObjectiveCollege students may not view sexual consent communication while under the influence of substances (i.e., alcohol and drugs) as problematic if media models the co-occurrence of these behaviors. The purpose of this study was to assess the types of consent cues used by characters who are and are not under the influence of substances in mainstream films. Method: Four researchers inductively analyzed popular mainstream films (N = 50). Films were assessed for substance use and consent communication cues. Results: Characters using substances were depicted using implicit verbal and explicit nonverbal consent cues more than characters who had not used substances. Conclusion: Films may perpetuate cultural narratives that substance use can be part of the consent process and that consent is communicated differently when people have used substances. Prevention programs could include media literacy to address misleading messages college students may internalize about substance use and sexual consent communication.

A Media Literacy Education Approach to High School Sexual Health Education: Immediate Effects of Media Aware on Adolescents' Media, Sexual Health, and Communication Outcomes

Media may function as sex educators for adolescents; unfortunately, media messages often glamorize risky sexual behaviors and unhealthy relationships and neglect sexual health behaviors and communication. Media Aware is a web-based comprehensive sexual health program for high school students that uses a media literacy education approach. It is designed to improve adolescents’ critical thinking about media messages and provide medically-accurate information and skills building related to sexual health and communication. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2019-2020 with students (grades 9 and 10; n = 590) from 17 high schools across the United States. The sample was 53% female, 58% white/Caucasian; and 13% Hispanic/Latinx. One high school teacher per school and all of their 9th and 10th grade students were randomly assigned to either the intervention or delayed-intervention (control) condition. The study assessed the immediate (posttest) and short-term (3-month) effects of Media Aware on adolescents’ media, sexual health, and communication outcomes. For 9 of the 17 schools, students were home from school due to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic during the time of their 3-month data collection, which left the short-term analyses underpowered. However, several impacts of the program were found in the immediate posttest analyses. Media Aware was found to improve sexual health knowledge and redress inaccurate normative beliefs about the frequency of risky teen sex. Media Aware also improved critical thinking about media messages with demonstrated improvements in media message deconstruction skills and decreases in the perceived realism of media messages. Moderator analyses found some differential immediate effects of the program attributable to gender. Media Aware reduced girls’ normative beliefs about teen sex, generally, and increased their sexual health communication with parents as well as reduced boys’ acceptance of dating violence. Students gave positive feedback about Media Aware, especially related to the online format of the program. The results from this study provide evidence that Media Aware is an effective web-based program for positively enhancing high school students’ media, sexual health, and sexual health communication outcomes.

Links of Perceived Pornography Realism with Sexual Aggression via Sexual Scripts, Sexual Behavior, and Acceptance of Sexual Coercion: A Study with German University Students

Exposure to pornographic material has been linked to sexual aggression perpetration and victimization in a large body of research. Based on social learning theory and ₃A theory of script learning, this study contributes to this research by testing the hypothesis that the more realistic pornography is perceived to be by young adults, the more likely they are to experience and engage in sexual aggression. Two underlying pathways were proposed: one path via scripts and patterns of sexual behavior regarding consensual sexual interactions that contain established risk factors for sexual aggression victimization and perpetration, and a second path via the acceptance of sexual coercion. In a cross-sectional study, 1181 university students in Germany (762 female; 419 male) completed measures of pornography use and perception, risky sexual scripts and sexual behavior, and acceptance of sexual coercion. As predicted, pornography realism was a positive predictor of risky sexual scripts, risky sexual behavior, and acceptance of sexual coercion. Indirect links with sexual aggression victimization and perpetration were found via both pathways. No gender differences in the associations were found. The implications for media literacy interventions addressing the realism of pornography are discussed.

The relationship between consumption of pornography and consensual sexual practice: Results of a mixed method systematic review

This article reports on the findings of a systematic review of literature on pornography use and sexual consent published between January 2000 and December 2017. The review found that there exists little research explicitly addressing consent. There exists an extensive literature on the relationship between the consumption of pornography and sexual aggression/violence; however, this work fails to distinguish between consensual (kink, spanking, BDSM) and nonconsensual acts (sexual harassment and rape). Our thematic analysis found that there is no agreement in the literature reviewed as to whether consumption of pornography is correlated with better or worse understandings or practices of sexual consent. The majority of articles that identified correlations between aspects of sexual health and pornography consumption incorrectly assigned causality to pornography consumption.

Assessing the Within-Person Variability of Internal and External Sexual Consent

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.

Sexual Consent Communication in Best-Selling Pornography Films: A Content Analysis

Even though young people report learning about sex from pornography, most do not think this sexual medium teaches them about sexual consent communication. But research shows that people are also able to evaluate pornography as consensual or not. Therefore, we proposed that pornography depicts subtle sexual scripts regarding sexual consent communication. We conducted a content analysis of 50 20-minute segments within best-selling pornographic films from 2015. We systematically coded the presence of various consent communication cues in these films. Consent communication was often depicted; nonverbal cues were more frequent than verbal cues. We found that the films either directly or indirectly supported several sexual scripts: Explicit Verbal Consent Isn't Natural, Women are Indirect/Men are Direct, Sex Can Happen Without Ongoing Communication, Lower-Order Behaviors Don't Need Explicit Consent, and People Receiving Sexual Behaviors Can Consent by Doing Nothing. Further research is needed to examine whether viewers are acquiring, activating, or applying these scripts. Sex education programs could benefit from acknowledging how consent communication is modeled in pornography and by teaching about pornography literacy.