Ethnicity and Sexual Attitudes Affect Women’s Judgments of Sexual Victimization Risk

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer N. Crawford ◽  
Kari A. Leiting ◽  
Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽  
Steven P. Verney ◽  
Kathryn L. Lenberg
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Sexual Attitudes ◽  
Sexual Experience ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Indian Women ◽  
Undergraduate Women ◽  
Victimization Risk ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Victimization History ◽  
Hispanic White

This study evaluated the effects of ethnicity, sexual attitudes, and sexual victimization history on women’s judgments of sexual victimization risk in a set of dating and social scenarios. An ethnically diverse sample of undergraduate women ( n = 408) were asked to rate how risky the situations were in terms of having an unwanted sexual experience. American Indian women rated the situations as more risky than did non-Hispanic White or Hispanic women. In addition, participants with more positive attitudes toward a range of sexual experiences rated the situations as less risky than did women with less positive attitudes. Possible implications are discussed.

Sexual Attitudes Moderate the Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Women’s Risk Judgments

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽  
Teresa A. Treat ◽  
Richard J. Viken ◽  
Kathryn L. Lenberg
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Sexual Attitudes ◽  
Alcohol Intoxication ◽  
Sexual Experience ◽  
Lower Sensitivity ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Alcohol Condition ◽  
Risk Judgments ◽  
Victimization History

This study evaluated the effects of alcohol intoxication, sexual attitudes, and sexual victimization history on the cognitive processes underlying undergraduate women’s risk judgments. Participants were 116 unmarried, undergraduate women between the ages of 21 and 29. The sample was diverse ethnically and composed primarily of heterosexual women. Stimuli were written vignettes describing social situations that varied on dimensions of sexual victimization risk and potential impact on women’s popularity. Participants were assigned randomly to an alcohol or a no-alcohol condition, and completed an explicit classification task in which they rated how risky each situation was in terms of their having an unwanted sexual experience. They then completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) and the Sociosexuality Scale (SS); SES responses were used to quantify the severity of victimization experiences, and SS responses were used to measure endorsement of positive attitudes toward casual, impersonal sex. Although there was no main effect for condition, higher sociosexuality predicted use of higher thresholds for judging situations as risky. Importantly, sociosexuality interacted with condition such that higher sociosexuality predicted lower sensitivity to risk information in the alcohol condition but not in the no-alcohol condition. More severe victimization history predicted increased use of popularity impactwhen judging risk. This study emphasizes the importance of identifying specific cognitive processes affected by alcohol that may explain why women have difficulty processing contextual cues signaling risk in social situations. It demonstrates also the relevance of examining individual difference factors that may exacerbate the relationship between intoxication and cognitive processing of risk-relevant information.

A Qualitative Analysis of the Effects of Victimization History and Sexual Attitudes on Women’s Hypothetical Sexual Assault Scripts

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari A. Leiting ◽  
Elizabeth A. Yeater
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Sexual Attitudes ◽  
Casual Sex ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Victimization History

This study examined qualitatively the effects of a sexual victimization history and sexual attitudes on 247 undergraduate women’s written accounts of a hypothetical sexual assault. More severe victimization history was associated with script characteristics of greater alcohol use, knowing the man longer, and the context of a party. Greater endorsement of positive attitudes toward casual sex was related to script characteristics of greater alcohol use, acquiescing to the man, and not knowing the man as long. Finally, a more recent sexual assault was associated with script characteristics of having just met the man, the context of a party or date, and acquiescing to the man.

Women’s Response Performance in Sexually Risky Situations: Associations With Disinhibited Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110163
Author(s):  
Kristen N. Vitek ◽  
Elizabeth A. Yeater
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Sexual Experience ◽  
Alcohol Expectancies ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Response Performance ◽  
Alcohol Related Problems ◽  
Victimization History

This study evaluated the effects of sexual victimization history, alcohol-related problems, psychological distress, and disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies on the effectiveness of women’s response performance in hypothetical social situations depicting risk for sexual victimization. Two hundred and forty-five undergraduate women first listened to audiotaped descriptions of the hypothetical social situations and imagined that they were the woman depicted in each scenario. They then were given a response to each situation deemed in prior work by experts in the sexual victimization research area to be effective at reducing risk for sexual victimization and asked to provide each response verbally while being videotaped. Participants then completed measures assessing prior victimization history, alcohol-related problems, psychological distress, and disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies. Experts in the sexual violence research area rated participants’ responses with respect to how effective each response was in decreasing their risk for having an unwanted sexual experience, defined as an experience in which the woman may be verbally or physically coerced into having a sexual contact of any kind with a man. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies were associated positively with women’s response performance, indicating that women who endorsed greater disinhibited sex-related alcohol expectancies provided more effective responses to risky hypothetical situations. Findings suggest possible interventions aimed at reducing women’s risk of sexual victimization.

Cognitive processes underlying the self–other perspective in women’s judgments of sexual victimization risk

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1381-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny K. Rinehart ◽  
Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽  
Teresa A. Treat ◽  
Richard J. Viken
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Rape Myth Acceptance ◽  
The Self ◽  
Rape Myth ◽  
Undergraduate Women ◽  
Victimization Risk ◽  
Risk Judgments ◽  
Myth Acceptance

This study examined the cognitive processes underlying self–other differences in women’s judgments of sexual victimization risk, as well as individual difference factors associated with those processes. Participants were 518 undergraduate women between the ages of 18 and 24. The majority of the women were either White (47.5%) or Hispanic (31.9%). Stimuli were 81 vignettes depicting social situations varying in degree of sexual victimization risk and potential impact on the woman’s popularity. Participants imagined either themselves (Self condition) or an anonymous undergraduate woman (Other condition) in the situations and classified each as high or low risk. Participants also completed the Sexual Experiences Survey, Sociosexuality Scale, and Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. Participants’ risk judgments were modeled using two-level, logistic regression, which provided participant-specific estimates of sensitivity and threshold parameters. Women in the Other condition, relative to the Self condition, showed lower thresholds for judging situations as risky and greater sensitivity to risk-relevant information when judging risk. Women higher in sociosexuality showed higher thresholds and reduced sensitivity to both risk and popularity impact information when judging risk, while women higher in rape myth acceptance were more sensitive to popularity impact information when judging risk. These findings suggest that self–other differences in sexual victimization risk judgments are due to differences in both sensitivity and threshold. Sexual assault prevention interventions for college women may be improved by addressing these cognitive processes.

scholarly journals An Event-Level Investigation of Factors Associated With Young Women’s Experiences of Coerced Consensual Sex

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 384-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Stappenbeck ◽  
Jeanette Norris ◽  
Rhiana Wegner ◽  
Amanda E. B. Bryan ◽  
Kelly Cue Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Alcohol Intoxication ◽  
Sexual Experience ◽  
Estimating Equation ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Consensual Sex ◽  
Main Effects ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Victimization History

Little is known about instances of coerced consensual sex in which women report both that they consented to have sex and that their partner used coercive tactics (e.g., made threats) to get them to have sex when they did not want to. Yet, these experiences are frequently reported by young sexually active women. We examined the relationship between sexual victimization history and the woman’s level of alcohol intoxication in the likelihood of experiencing coerced consensual sex using event-level data collected over a 1-year period from 548 young adult nonproblem drinking women who engaged in sexual activity with men. Twenty percent ( n = 112) reported at least one incident of coerced consensual sex. A generalized estimating equation model revealed main effects of daily estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC) and sexual victimization severity. The more women increased their alcohol consumption above their own average and the more severe their sexual victimization history, the more likely they were to experience coerced consensual sex. Our findings highlight the fact that coercion and consent are not mutually exclusive in some situations and shed light on this important yet understudied coercive sexual experience.

Sexual victimization history predicts academic performance in college women.

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 685-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majel R. Baker ◽  
Patricia A. Frazier ◽  
Christiaan Greer ◽  
Jacob A. Paulsen ◽  
Kelli Howard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
College Women ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Victimization History

Measurement Invariance of the Sexual Assault Script Scale (SASS): An Examination Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White College Women

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052098549
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Yeater ◽  
Kristen N. Vitek ◽  
Ryan S. Ross ◽  
Meredith Blackwell ◽  
Katie Witkiewitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
College Women ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Hispanic White ◽  
White College

Rates of sexual victimization have remained steady over several decades, and preventative interventions to reduce men’s sexually aggressive behavior have been largely ineffective. As such, research has endeavored to find novel approaches to identify women at increased risk for sexual victimization. Sexual assault scripts, or “cognitive models” that women adhere to that guide their beliefs about sexual assault are posited to influence their victimization risk. Prior studies on sexual assault scripts primarily have been qualitative in nature; however, recent work yielded a 27-item measure of putative risk for sexual victimization called the Sexual Assault Script Scale (SASS). The SASS has four subscales called Stereotypical Assault Scripts, Acquaintance Assault Scripts, Assault Resistance Scripts, and Date/Friend Assault Scripts, which were found in prior work to be internally consistent and associated with putative risk factors for sexual victimization. The focus of the current study was to test the measurement invariance of the SASS among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White college women who were recruited in the prior study. Four hundred sixty-nine ( N = 469) Hispanic and 415 non-Hispanic White US undergraduate heterosexual or bisexual women from a Southwestern university in the United States completed the SASS. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) replicated the prior four-factor model with an acceptable fit to the data, and tests of measurement invariance revealed the SASS to be invariant across Hispanic and non-Hispanic White college women, suggesting that the SASS is measuring a similar construct in these groups.

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