Perception of sexual intent: The role of gender, alcohol consumption, and rape supportive attitudes

Abbey, Antonia; Harnish, Richard J.

doi:10.1007/bf01544599

Cited by 132 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…These methods have included judging sexual interest or intent in face-toface interactions of opposite-sex stranger dyads (Abbey, 1982;Harnish, Abbey, & DeBono, 1990;Saal, Johnson, & Weber, 1989;Shea, 1993), videotaped interactions and/or photos (Abbey, Cozzarelli, McLaughlin, & Harnish, 1987;Abbey & Melby, 1986;Edmondson & Conger, 1995;Saal et al, 1989;Shotland & Craig, 1988), vignettes (Abbey & Harnish, 1995;DeSouza, Pierce, Zanelli, & Hutz, 1992;Haselton & Buss, 2000;Kowalski, 1993), naturalistic personal experiences (Haselton, 2003;Koenig, Kirkpatrick, & Ketelaar, 2007), and experiments (Maner et al, 2005).…”

Section: Biases In Mating and Romantic Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive Rationality: An Evolutionary Perspective on Cognitive Bias

et al. 2009

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A casual look at the literature in social cognition reveals a vast collection of biases, errors, violations of rational choice, and failures to maximize utility. One is tempted to draw the conclusion that the human mind is woefully muddled. We present a three-category evolutionary taxonomy of evidence of biases: biases are (a) heuristics, (b) error management effects, or (c) experimental artifacts. We conclude that much of the research on cognitive biases can be profitably reframed and understood in evolutionary terms. An adaptationist perspective suggests that the mind is remarkably well designed for important problems of survival and reproduction, and not fundamentally irrational. Our analysis is not an apologia intended to place the rational mind on a pedestal for admiration. rather, it promises practical outcomes including a clearer view of the architecture of systems for judgment and decision making, and exposure of clashes between adaptations designed for the ancestral past and the demands of the present.

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Section: Biases In Mating and Romantic Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive Rationality: An Evolutionary Perspective on Cognitive Bias

et al. 2009

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“…Changes included expanding the definition of rape, limiting the corroboration requirement and enacting rape shield laws: that is, limiting the admissibility of the victim"s sexual history. Recent research on the acceptance of rape myths shows that the public and still largely endorses rape myths blame the victim and excuse the offender, despite recent reforms (Abbey and Harnish 1995;Mori et al 1995;Ward 1995;Kopper 1996;Johnson et al 1997). …”

Section: Police Officers and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behind the Blue Line: Investigating Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

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2007

J Police Crim Psych

132

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The current study contributes to what is known about police officers" attitudes toward rape. A survey was administered to 891 sworn police officers in two states in the southeastern United States. The surveys were designed to assess police officers" acceptance of rape myths. It was hypothesized that police officers would be accepting of rape myths, which are inherently misogynistic. Attitudes toward rape were expected to vary according to educational attainment and experience with rape investigations, such that higher levels of education and more experience with rape investigations would lead to the rejection of rape myths. There was a significant difference in the acceptance of rape myths with varying levels of educational attainment and experience with rape investigations. ARTICLEMen in American society are socialized to espouse "macho" beliefs and behavior. Connell (1987Connell ( , 1995Connell ( , 2002 refers to this as "hegemonic masculinity," an idealized form of masculinity, emphasizing dominance, aggression, heterosexuality and a lack of emotion. Hegemonic masculinity promotes, but does not determine behavior that supports the traditional gender order. Rather, it shapes one"s sense of reality and is modified to fit different situations (Messerschmidt 2000). In other words, hegemonic masculinity acts as a script for how men should behave and/or think in various situations.In conjunction with being socialized as male or female in the larger society, there is also a socialization process that occurs in police culture. Holdaway (1983) discussed police culture as

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“…Men who have sex at an early age and who have many partners are more likely to commit sexual assault than are other men (Abbey et al, 1998;Kanin, 1985;Koss et al, 1985;Malamuth et al, 1995). This finding has been explained in terms of both individual differences in sexual interest and motivation, and increased (Kanin, 1985;Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, & Tanaka, 1991).In addition, men frequently misperceive women's friendly behavior as a sign of sexual interest (Abbey & Harnish, 1995;Shotland & Craig, 1988). Although sexual misperceptions are usually resolved fairly quickly, in extreme cases they may contribute to sexual assault (Abbey et al, 1998;Muehlenhard & Linton, 1987).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudinal, Experiential, and Situational Predictors of Sexual Assault Perpetration

Abbey

McAuslan

Zawacki

et al. 2001

J Interpers Violence

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Past research demonstrates that sexual assault perpetration is caused by multiple factors including attitudes, early experiences, and situational factors. In this study, 343 college men described either a sexual assault they had committed or their worst date. Discriminant function analysis indicated that attitudes about gender roles and alcohol, number of consensual sex partners, how well the man knew the woman, how isolated the setting was, alcohol consumption during the event, the man's misperception of the woman's cues during the event, and prior consensual sexual activity between the man and the woman discriminated between sexual assaults and worst dates. Additionally, tactics used to obtain sex, self attributions, the perceived seriousness of the assault, and the extent to which it disrupted relationships with others significantly discriminated between men who committed forced sexual contact, sexual coercion, and rape. These results demonstrate the importance of considering both individual characteristics and situational factors in theories and prevention activities.Sexual assault is a complex phenomenon, caused by multiple factors both across and within perpetrators. Depending on the definitions and measures used, studies of college men have found that 25% to 57% acknowledged committing sexual assault, with 7% to 15% describing an act that met standard legal definitions of rape (Abbey, McAuslan, & Ross, 1998;Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987;Muehlenhard & Linton, 1987). The study described in this article had three goals. The first goal was to distinguish between college men who had and had not committed sexual assault using a number of attitudinal, experiential, and situational variables. The second goal was to determine if men who had committed different types of sexual assault varied in their attributions and outcomes. The third goal was to highlight different ways in which alcohol contributed to sexual assault, HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript including attitudes about alcohol that facilitate sexual assault, past experiences with alcohol in sexual situations, and alcohol consumption during the assault. Although sexual assault research has addressed each of these goals (Koss, Leonard, Beezley, & Oros, 1985;Malamuth, Linz, Heavey, Barnes, & Acker, 1995;Muehlenhard & Linton, 1987), previous studies have not simultaneously examined them with a large group of perpetrators. The relevant literature is summarized below and then the study's hypotheses are described. Attitudes About Gender Roles and AlcoholOne explanation for why sexual assault is so common focuses on societally sanctioned gender role beliefs that justify forced sex. Since the 1970s, feminist writers have described how traditional attitudes about women, dating, and sexual behavior contribute to sexual assault. In Western culture, sex is frequently described in terms of conquest and as a "battle between the sexes" in which eager men seduce reluctant women (Brownmiller, 1975;Clark, Sha...

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Perception of sexual intent: The role of gender, alcohol consumption, and rape supportive attitudes

Cited by 132 publications

References 27 publications

Adaptive Rationality: An Evolutionary Perspective on Cognitive Bias

Adaptive Rationality: An Evolutionary Perspective on Cognitive Bias

Behind the Blue Line: Investigating Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

Attitudinal, Experiential, and Situational Predictors of Sexual Assault Perpetration

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