Factors Affecting College Students' Perceptions of Sexual Relationships Between High School Students and Teachers

Abstract

This study explored the effects of respondent gender, gender combination (male teacher/female student versus female teacher/male student), and teacher age (24 versus 39-years-old) on the perception of a sexual relationship between a teacher and a 16-year-old student. Participants were 80 male and 80 female undergraduates. A MANOVA yielded significant main effects for respondent gender and gender combination. Subsequent ANOVAs indicated that men generally viewed the experience more positively and that the male teacher/female

The Sexual Double Standard and Gender Differences in Predictors of Perceptions of Adult-Teen Sexual Relationships

“…A small number of empirical studies have examined factors that influence perceptions of adult-teen sexual relationships (e.g., Dollar et al 2004;Fromuth et al 2001;Horvath and Giner-Sorolla 2007;Smith et al 1997). With the exception of Horvath and Giner-Sorolla (2007) (who also used vignettes but with different populations), studies presented college students with vignettes describing a sexual encounter between a teacher and a student and a questionnaire asking about their perceptions of the encounters.…”

“…With the exception of Horvath and Giner-Sorolla (2007) (who also used vignettes but with different populations), studies presented college students with vignettes describing a sexual encounter between a teacher and a student and a questionnaire asking about their perceptions of the encounters. The research tends to focus on three main aspects of respondents' perceptions: the criminality of the adult, in terms of the appropriate punishment and appropriate prison sentence (Dollar et al 2004;Horvath and Giner-Sorolla 2007;Smith et al 1997); the "normalcy" of the adult-teen interaction as perceived by the teen's peers (Dollar et al 2004); and the emotional damage to the teen (Dollar et al 2004;Fromuth et al 2001;Horvath and Giner-Sorolla 2007;Smith et al 1997).…”

“…Previous research shows that what college students deem as appropriate heterosexual relations for both adolescents and adults depends on their expectations of appropriate gender roles and the context of the relationship (Dollar et al 2004;Fromuth et al 2001;Horvath and Giner-Sorolla Underlying our research is the assumption that although laws may be written to treat adult-teen relationships the same, perceptions of these relationships are contingent upon the genders and ages of the adult and teen, as well as the social context in which they take place. While the law may not allow for these contingencies, our goal is to empirically test how these factors color college students' perceptions of such relationships and whether they differ by the respondent's gender.…”

The role of adult expectations on the recovery of sexually abused children

“…Although criticized for their limited generalizability, these studies provide valuable insight into how child sexual abuse encounters are perceived. Within this literature, researchers have examined perceptions of sexual abuse by manipulating various characteristics of the vignette, such as the age of the victim (e.g., Maynard & Wiederman, 1997), the age of the perpetrator (e.g., Fromuth, Holt, & Parker, 2001), and the gender amalgam of the vignette (e.g., Smith, Fromuth, & Morris, 1997). For example, Maynard and Wiederman (1997) found that sexual experiences were viewed as more abusive when involving younger children (i.e., 7-yearolds versus 15-year-olds) and same-gender interactions.…”

“…For example, Maynard and Wiederman (1997) found that sexual experiences were viewed as more abusive when involving younger children (i.e., 7-yearolds versus 15-year-olds) and same-gender interactions. Additionally, in an examination of high school teacher/student sexual experiences, Fromuth et al (2001) found that the female teacher/male student dyad was given more positive ratings (e.g., fewer "psychological problems for students") than the male teacher/female student scenario. Furthermore, men were more likely than women to rate the sexual relationship as a "positive sexual experience."…”