Correlates of Incoming Male College Students' Proclivity to Perpetrate Sexual Assault

Does No Mean No? Situational and Dispositional Factors Influence Emerging Adult Men's Intentions to Use Assault Tactics in Response to Women's Sexual Refusal During Hookups

Hookups can result in sexual assault when men do not listen to requests from women to stop. It is thus important to identify factors that influence men's decisions to override direct refusals in these situations. Presently, we administered first-person vignettes depicting a prototypical hookup wherein the woman refuses the man's attempt to escalate intimacy. Using a national sample of emerging adult men (N = 420), we found that they on average did not completely rule out coercive or forcible tactics, but those elevated on rape myth acceptance, hypermasculinity, and psychopathy were uniquely at risk of assault when controlling for several other traits known to correlate with rape. Participants also reported being likelier to use coercive sexual practices when refusals occurred at higher levels of sexual intimacy already attained. Notably, diagnostic analyses revealed that a subset of men had a disproportionate influence on the regression estimates, and that these men were not only elevated across a range of assault-relevant traits, but also endorsed higher likelihoods of using coercion and force in the face of female sexual refusal. Although removal of these cases did not substantively alter the results, exploratory analyses revealed that these individuals responded differently to situational factors in ways that suggested sexual opportunism. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Empirically Assessing the Effectiveness of the Pathways Programme: An Online Self-Help Intervention for Male Sexual Aggression at UK Universities

Though contemporary evidence suggests that upwards of one-in-nine UK male university students engage in sexually violent behaviors (Hales and Gannon in Sexual Abuse 34:744-770, 2022), few evidence-based primary prevention strategies have been developed to prevent their perpetration. To help contribute to this evidence gap, this study evaluated the short and longer-term effectiveness of a novel psychoeducation-based online self-help intervention for university male sexual aggression called The Pathways Programme. Designed around current empirical understanding of university-based sexual harm in the UK, the program contains six modules that correspond with known risk factors for perpetration. Data were collected as part of a randomized control trial from 254 self-identified heterosexual male students enrolled at a UK university who reported a proclivity towards sexual aggression. Results showed that participants who took part in the program displayed moderate reductions in their self-perceived likelihood of sexual aggression (our primary treatment target) across testing points, as well as reductions in their self-reported levels of hostility towards women, rape myth acceptance, and problematic sexual fantasies (our secondary treatment targets). Control participants also displayed reductions in some domains over time, albeit to a lesser degree. Additional analyses probed the factors associated with participant drop-out, clinical and reliable change, and user feedback. Overall, our study provides preliminary evidence for the efficacy of The Pathways Programme at reducing UK university males' risk of sexual aggression; however, we caution readers that more robust evaluation is necessary to support intervention rollout. We discuss our findings alongside the limitations of our study and provide suggestions for future research.

Aggressive sexual fantasy frequency outperforms other characteristics in cross-sectionally predicting self-reported sexual aggression in 4 samples

BACKGROUND

Aggressive sexual fantasies (ASFs) have consistently been associated with sexual aggression measures. ASF frequency has mostly been used to indicate ASF, but other ASF characteristics may be important to explain the apparent gap between alleged high lifetime prevalence rates of ASF and lower sexual aggression rates-that is, why ASFs are only sometimes put into action.

AIM

The present study therefore examined whether additional ASF characteristics show associations with sexual aggression measures above and beyond ASF frequency to identify the most relevant ASF characteristics.

METHODS

The present study is based on cross-sectional survey data from 4 independent mostly community samples with 448, 131, 758, and 415 participants to examine whether ASF elaboration, intrusion, preoccupation, context, and consent were associated with self-reported sexual aggression measures beyond ASF frequency.

OUTCOMES

Self-reported sexual aggression measures included presumably consensual and nonconsensual sexual sadism, self-reports on acting on ASF, sexual harassment, use of coercive strategies, and rape proclivity.

RESULTS

The results showed positive correlations among all ASF characteristics. ASF frequency was the most consistent and often strongest predictor of sexual aggression across samples and outcome measures. ASF elaboration and/or its interaction with ASF frequency added to this prediction in study 1 but not in study 2. All other ASF characteristics in studies 1 to 4 either did not add to the predictions or yielded results contrary to expectations, mostly suggesting suppressor effects.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Sexual medicine and forensic sexology researchers may want to consider ASF frequency in diagnostics and develop and refine interventions to reduce it in cases of clearly elevated levels.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

The strengths of the present study include considering 4 independent samples as well as a large number of ASF characteristics and sexual aggression measures. Its limitations include the reliance on cross-sectional data and not being able to examine the potential influences of all ASF characteristics in a single model.

CONCLUSION

ASF frequency seems the most valid and reliable indicator of ASF and the most important associate of sexual aggression. It should be considered the main indicator of ASF by future research and in prevention efforts and risk assessment.

Do Environmental Cues to Discovery Influence the Likelihood to Rape?

Research on men's sexual exploitation of women has documented that men's psychology tracks cues associated with the ease of women's exploitability. In the current studies, we examined a different class of cues hypothesized to aid men's use of sexually exploitative strategies: environmental cues to the likelihood of discovery. We defined likelihood of discovery as the perceived probability of identification when engaging in exploitative behavior (e.g., presence of others). We test the hypothesis that men's likelihood to rape increases when their perception of the likelihood of discovery is low in three studies. In Study 1, we conducted a content analysis of individuals' responses (N = 1,881) when asked what one would do if they could stop time or be invisible. Besides the "other" category whereby there were no specific category for nominated behaviors, the most nominated category included sexually exploitative behavior-representing 15.3% of reported behaviors. Both Studies 2 (N = 672) and 3 (N = 614) were preregistered manipulations of likelihood of discovery surreptitiously testing men's rape likelihood to rape across varying levels of discovery. We found men, compared to women, reported a statistically higher likelihood to rape in both Studies 2 and 3: 48% compared to 39.7% and 19% compared to 6.8%, respectively. Across Studies 2 and 3, we found no statistical effect of the likelihood of discovery on participants' likelihood to rape. We discuss how the presence of one's peers may provide social protection against the costs of using an exploitative sexual strategy if a perpetrator is caught.

Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors

University-based sexual aggression is an international public health issue; however, to date, there have been no formal assessments of the prevalence or psychological indicators associated with the proabuse behaviors of the most common perpetrators at UK universities: heterosexual male students. To facilitate the development of effective primary prevention interventions for domestic students who have sexually harmed, we assess across two empirical studies (Ns = 259 and 295) the psychological risk factors associated with recent sexual aggression amongst two distinct samples of UK male university students. Cumulatively, results highlighted that one in nine participants (11.4%) self-reported recent sexual aggression. These participants could be statistically differentiated from their non-offending peers on various established indicators of general sexual offending, of which logistic regression analyses highlighted atypical sexual fantasies, general aggression, hostility toward women, and rape myth acceptance as being the most reliable predictors. Our data extend the international evidence base by providing the first detailed overview of sexual aggression amongst UK male university students, as well as the psychological risk factors associated with their proabuse behaviors. We discuss the importance of our findings for the development of more effective evidence-based reduction strategies and primary prevention interventions for male students who have sexually harmed.

Dispelling a Myth: Reevaluating the Predictive Validity of Rape Myth Acceptance for Likelihood of Engaging in Sexual Violence

Sexual violence prevention on college campuses has received significant recent attention. A prevalent intervention paradigm has centered around re-educating young people around consent and reduce endorsement of "rape myths," based on the correlation between rape myths and sexual violence incidents. Yet many of these programs have not measurably reduced sexual assaults. We evaluated the predictive value of a rape myth measure, as compared with other predictors (criminal history, childhood victimization, aggressive tendencies, substance use, and empathy), in predicting self-reported acts of forcible and incapacitated sexual assault in college-age men (N = 304) from 45 U.S. states. Across three logistic regression model pairs, rape myths were weakly associated with violence when considered as sole predictors. However, this predictive power dissipated when other predictors were included. Comprehensive models accounted significantly better for variability in outcomes; with criminal history demonstrating consistent predictive effects. Based on these findings, we recommend further research into prevention programming based on other predictors of violence.