Sexual victimization of women by men on college campuses is a growing societal concern, with research identifying a host of situational and characterological factors that may predict men's likelihood to engage in sexual misconduct. In the present study, we examined the relative contribution and potential interplay of these various determinants on college men's perceptions of women's sexual desire and consent in hypothetical dating scenarios depicting a sexual interaction. We found that the men ( N = 145) in this sample (a) conflated sexual desire with consent, (b) varied their appraisals of consent and desire depending on whether and how the woman in the vignette communicated consent or refusal, (c) perceived higher levels of consent if the man in the vignette had intercourse with the woman previously and as a function of escalating sexual intimacy in the ongoing interaction, (d) endorsed higher levels of perceived desire and consent across situations if they more strongly held rape-supportive attitudes, and (e) moderated their association between situational factors and perceptions of a woman's sexual intentions based on their endorsement of rape myths and a hypermasculine ideology. We conclude that efforts to prevent sexual violence among college students may benefit from being modeled on our findings that some men are likelier to infer consent regardless of the situation, that specific situational factors can foster misperceptions of consent across men in general, and that certain individuals in particular situations may pose the greatest risk for sexual misconduct.
Nonsexual physical affection plays an important role in marital functioning, but not all individuals are satisfied with the intimate touch they receive from their partner. Differences in adult attachment tendencies may be one way to understand the individual differences in touch satisfaction. Using a sample of 180 different-sex married couples, we explored how attachment associates with touch satisfaction in marriage in a cross-sectional investigation. Consistent with predictions, we found that husbands with greater attachment anxiety were less satisfied with touch, except when engagement in routine affection was relatively high, but especially when low. Lower routine affection diminished touch satisfaction regardless of attachment style, but greater avoidance appeared to buffer this effect for wives. However, wives with greater avoidance had husbands who reported lower touch satisfaction. We also explored the interplay of touch satisfaction and marital quality, finding that they associated positively, even when routine affection is statistically controlled. Lastly, our exploratory analyses suggest that touch satisfaction may serve as a mediating link between anxiety and marital quality. Overall, our findings support that attachment insecurities associate with engagement in and satisfaction with touch and that these processes are relevant to the overall marital quality.
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