Pathways from College Students’ Cognitive Scripts for Consensual Sex to Sexual Victimization: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Sexual scripts serve as cognitive representations of typical elements of sexual interactions that guide sexual behavior. To the extent that cognitive scripts for consensual sex comprise elements associated with a risk of experiencing nonconsensual sex, they may be indirectly linked to sexual victimization via risky sexual behavior. A longitudinal study with 2,425 college students in Germany (58% female) examined pathways from sexual scripts for consensual sex, sexual behavior, and sexual victimization over three data waves separated by 12-month intervals. Sexual scripts and behavior were defined as risky to the extent that they include known vulnerability factors for sexual victimization (casual sex, alcohol consumption, ambiguous communication of sexual intentions). Path analyses confirmed that more risky sexual scripts prospectively predicted more risky sexual behavior, which predicted higher odds of sexual victimization. The findings held for men and women and participants with exclusively opposite-sex and both same-and opposite-sex contacts. Moreover, reciprocal influences between risky scripts and risky sexual behavior were found over time, confirming the proposed mutual reinforcement of scripts and behavior. The findings have implications for conceptualizing the role of scripts for consensual sex as vulnerability factors for sexual victimization among women and men and may inform intervention efforts.

Links of Perceived Pornography Realism with Sexual Aggression via Sexual Scripts, Sexual Behavior, and Acceptance of Sexual Coercion: A Study with German University Students

“…Furthermore, risky sexual behavior was positively associated with both sexual aggression victimization and perpetration, supporting Hypothesis 4. This pattern of findings corroborates previous evidence from different countries [ 35 , 69 , 70 ] and underlines the conceptualization of sexual scripts as guidelines for sexual behavior.…”

“…To measure the extent to which the elements of the sexual scripts for consensual scripts were reflected in actual sexual behavior, nine items were used, derived from previous research [ 35 , 58 ]. Participants were asked to indicate how often they had shown a particular behavior when they had sex in the past, using a five-point scale from 1 ( never ) to 5 ( very often ).…”

“…We refer to sexual script as “risky” if they include features that have been identified consistently in the scientific literature as increasing the probability of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration. Specifically, we consider three such factors as elements of risky sexual scripts: alcohol use during sexual encounters, sex with casual partners, and ambiguous communication of sexual intentions [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. As shown by content analyses, these features are often presented in pornographic media [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Unacknowledged and missed cases of sexual victimization: A comparison of responses to broad versus behaviorally specific questions

“…Sexual victimization since the age of 14 years, the legal age of consent in Germany, was assessed using the SAV‐S (Krahé & Berger, 2013; Krahé et al, 2021). Based on the revised version of the SES (Koss et al, 2007), the SAV‐S differentiates between three coercive strategies (threat or use of physical force, exploitation of the inability of the victim to resist, and use of verbal pressure), four sexual activities (sexual touch, attempted penetration, completed penetration, and other sexual acts, e.g., oral sex), and, additionally, three types of victim–perpetrator relationship constellations (current/former partner, friend/acquaintance, and stranger).…”

“…So far, most studies investigating unacknowledged rape have used the SES (Koss & Oros, 1982; Koss et al, 2007), including the study by Donde et al (2018) by which the current study was inspired. The Sexual Aggression and Victimization Scale (SAV‐S; Krahé & Berger, 2013) is another multi‐item, behaviorally specific instrument that has been employed and validated in a range of different countries and languages in Europe and Latin America (Krahé & Berger, 2013; Krahé et al, 2021; Schuster, Krahé, Ilabaca Baeza, et al, 2016; Schuster, Krahé, & Toplu‐Demirtaş, 2016; Tomaszewska & Krahé, 2018). Because large‐scale evidence regarding the prevalence of sexual victimization based on the SAV‐S has accumulated in recent years, it is crucial to examine the problem of unacknowledged rape and sexual assault for this measure.…”