Further Validation of a Laboratory Analog Sexual Aggression Task: Associations With Novel Risk Factors for Sexual Violence

Official crime statistics and self-reports of sexual aggression perpetration are limited by various factors (e.g., lack of reporting, social desirability bias), as well as an inability to use these measures in experimental studies of sexual aggression. To address these issues, Nagayama Hall et al. (1994) developed a laboratory analog measure of sexual aggression, which has received empirical support as a valid measure of sexual aggression proclivity. Here, we seek to replicate these findings and further validate the paradigm by examining sexually aggressive responses in relation to a range of recently emerging predictors of sexual aggression (e.g., sexual objectification, sexual narcissism) as well as participants’ perceptions of a female confederate serving as the target of sexual aggression. A sample of 49 undergraduate men completed questionnaires and participated in the sexual aggression analog task. Results of logistic regression analyses supported both criterion and construct validity of the analog task; men who chose the sexually explicit video were more likely to report prior sexual aggression, greater sexual objectification of women, higher sexual narcissism, greater hostile sexism, and higher impersonal dating. These men were also more likely to express dehumanizing beliefs about the female confederate, consider her less intelligent, and believe she was more distressed by the video. These results replicate and extend prior research supporting this paradigm as a valid laboratory-based measure of sexual aggression proclivity that can be used in tandem with validated self-report measures.

The Influence of Social Modeling, Gender, and Empathy on Treatment Side Effects

Background Social modeling has the capacity to shape treatment outcomes, including side effects. Purpose This study investigated the influence of social modeling of treatment side effects, gender, and participant empathy, on side effects of a placebo treatment. Methods Ninety-six participants (48 females) completed a study purportedly investigating the influence of modafinil (actually placebo) on alertness and fatigue. The participants were randomly seated with a male or female confederate and saw this confederate report experiencing side effects or no side effects. Participant empathy was assessed at baseline. Changes in modeled and general symptoms, and misattribution of symptoms, were assessed during the session and at 24-hr follow-up. Results During the experimental session, seeing side effect modeling significantly increased modeled symptoms (p = .023, d = 0.56) but not general or misattributed symptoms. Regardless of modeling condition, female participants seated with a female model reported significantly more general symptoms during the session. However, response to social modeling did not differ significantly by model or participant gender. At follow-up, the effect of social modeling of side effects had generalized to other symptoms, resulting in significantly higher rates of modeled symptoms (p = .023, d = 0.48), general symptoms (p = .013, d = 0.49), and misattributed symptoms (p = .022, d = 0.50). The experience of modeled symptoms in response to social modeling was predicted by participants’ levels of baseline empathy. Conclusions Social modeling of symptoms can increase the side effects following treatment, and this effect appears to generalize to a broader range of symptoms and symptom misattribution over time. Higher baseline empathy seems to increase response to social modeling.

The Messenger Matters: Invalidating Remarks From Men Provoke a More Negative Emotional Reaction Than Do Remarks From Women

Despite negative consequences of emotional invalidation, research has not examined the effect of gender on responses to validation or invalidation or how an invalidating comment from a male versus a female confederate may influence affective responses. We used a two-study quasi-experimental design to examine variables that influence the emotions of individuals validated or invalidated for their emotions. Male and female undergraduates received either validating or invalidating remarks from a gender-ambiguous confederate (Study 1) or invalidating remarks from either a male or female confederate (Study 2). Results showed that invalidation from a gender-ambiguous confederate produced more negative emotional reactions than validation regardless of participants’ gender. Furthermore, being invalidated by a man rather than by a woman provoked a specifically more negative emotional response. Interpersonal interventions should explore ways to reduce invalidation and particularly strive to mitigate the effects of invalidation from men, whose criticisms may provoke heightened negative responses from others.

The Impact of Individual Difference Factors on Men’s Competitive Intent Against a Female Confederate Following Social Stress

The perpetration of violence against women by men is an important social issue. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that particular individual factors increase risk of perpetration; however, much of the research occurs outside of social contexts. The current study examined the manipulation of feedback valence on male participants’ competitive intent, conceptualized as a precursor to aggression, against a female confederate following a social stress task. It was expected that negative feedback (i.e., experimental condition) would elicit greater increases in competitive intent compared with positive feedback (i.e., control condition). However, it was also expected that this increase in competitive intent would be moderated by individual difference factors (i.e., physical aggression, hostility, emotion regulation difficulties, and psychological symptoms). The results suggest differential responding between the experimental and control conditions for competitive intent. Physical aggression, emotion regulation difficulties, and depression symptom severity moderated the differences in competitive intent in the experimental condition.

Commitment and the Responsive Bystander: A Field Evaluation with a Less Problematic Request

Prior research on the effect of commitment on bystander intervention has focused on situations involving crime (e.g., robbery). However, the effect of commitment on less problematic situations has never been examined. In this field study, a female confederate asked (commitment condition) or did not ask (no-commitment condition) a customer to keep an eye on her grocery cart on the pretext that she had forgotten something in the store. Several seconds later, a male confederate arrived behind the first confederate's cart and began to move it in order to take her place. It was found that participants ( N = 40) intervened to stop the second confederate more frequently in the commitment condition. The results support the assumption that bystander commitment influences behavior even in a non-crime situation.

The Influence of Incidental Similarity on Self-Revelation in Response to an Intimate Survey

Because it has been found that people are more willing to help someone with whom they believe they have something in common (Burger, Messian, Patel, del Prado, & Anderson, 2004), we hypothesized that people would become less reluctant to respond to questions on intimate topics when these questions were asked by an interviewer who shared an incidental similarity with the respondent. A male or a female confederate approached, respectively, female and male passers-by seeking their participation in a survey about sexual behavior, in which the questions became increasingly intimate. At the beginning of the survey, the interviewer pointed out (similarity condition) or did not point out (no similarity condition) that he/she and the participant shared the same birth date. It was found that, compared with participants in the no similarity condition, participants in the similarity condition responded to more questions.

The Effects of Striped Clothing on Perceptions of Body Size

Findings in recent studies indicate that, contrary to popular fashion advice, horizontal lines do not give the impression of larger body size (Thompson, 2008; Thompson & Mikellidou, 2009, 2011). However, in these studies stimuli were presented concurrently with vertical and horizontal lines, and it is unclear whether the same effect is found in the absence of such perceptual anchors. In this study, 120 naive participants interacted with a female confederate wearing a dress with vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, or no stripes. Following this, they were asked to rate the confederate's body size. Results showed that the confederate was rated as having a significantly larger body size when she was dressed in horizontal stripes than when she was wearing either vertical stripes or no stripes. There was no significant difference in body size perceptions when she was wearing vertical stripes or no stripes. The practical implications of these results are discussed.

Using Mimicry to Elicit Answers to Intimate Questions in Survey Research

Mimicry is generally associated with a feeling of similarity that often results in a positive perception of the mimicker. We hypothesized that participants would become less reluctant to respond to highly intimate questions when these questions were administered by a mimicking interviewer. A female confederate approached female students for their participation in a survey on sexual behavior in which the questions became increasingly intimate. During the survey, confederates mimicked or did not mimic the participants. It was found that participants in the mimicry condition responded to more questions than did nonparticipants.

Valentine Street Promotes Chivalrous Helping

In a field setting, male passersby (N = 120) were asked by a female confederate to indicate the direction of Valentine Street (Martin Street in the control group). Thirty meters ahead, the participant encountered another female confederate who asked for help, claiming that a group of four disreputable-looking male confederates had taken her mobile telephone and refused to give it back. Participants primed with the cognition of “Valentine” helped the female confederate get her mobile phone back more frequently than those primed with the cognition of “Martin.” Results are explained in light of the gender role theory of helping, mood maintenance effects, and mood-elicited depth of information processing.