“…For the purpose of this study, we distinguish between sexual initiation attempts that comprise the combination of verbal and nonverbal cues indicating agreement from both sexual partners, which are consistent with legal and institutional definitions of sexual consent, and sexual initiation attempts that rely on nonverbal cues only. Examining the effects of exposure to affirmative sexual consent against those of nonverbal sexual initiation cues is important given that previous research has conceptualized nonverbal cues as a form of sexual consent (e.g., Willis, Jozkowski, et al, 2020), and given that nonverbal cues alone are seen as sufficiently indicative of their partner’s consent for many young adults (Harrell et al, 2023). We predict that adolescents exposed to verbal, compared to nonverbal, sexual initiation portrayals will report greater intention to seek verbal consent (Hypothesis 1a [H1a]), greater perceptions of women’s sexual agency (Hypothesis 1b [H1b]), lower perceptions of women as sexual objects (Hypothesis 1c [H1c]), and lower perceptions of men as sex-driven (Hypothesis 1d [H1d]).…”