Risky Sexual Behavior of Young Adults in Hong Kong: An Exploratory Study of Psychosocial Risk Factors

Abstract

There is limited knowledge of the prevalence and nature of risky sexual behavior (RSB) among young adults in Hong Kong. This cross-sectional study explored the psychosocial risk factors of RSB with a sample of 1,171 Hong Kong university students (aged 18–40 years). Grounded in the theoretical propositions of several criminological theories (i.e., the theories of self-control, general strain, social learning, social control, and routine activity), engagement in three types of RSB (i.e., general, penetrative, and non-penetrative) was studied alongside a range of psychosocial risk factors. Relative to female participants, male participants reported significantly higher mean levels of general, penetrative, and non-penetrative RSB. Male participants also reported significantly higher mean levels of negative temperament, use of alcohol and other drugs, and paraphilic interests than female participants, who reported significantly higher mean levels of self-control and social bonds than their male counterparts. The results of multivariate analyses (i.e., OLS regressions) revealed that, to a large extent, the male and female participants shared a similar set of psychosocial risk factors (i.e., use of alcohol and other drugs, and paraphilic interest) for their involvement in general, penetrative, and non-penetrative RSB. Furthermore, a high level of negative temperament was significantly associated with penetrative RSB for both genders, while a high level of perceived neighborhood disorganization was found to be an important factor in the participation of females in general, penetrative, and non-penetrative RSB. The findings of this study may have important implications for practice in regard to reducing, if not entirely preventing, the tendency to engage in RSB.

Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors

“…As in past international research (e.g., Chan, 2021;Greendlinger & Byrne, 1987), atypical sexual fantasies associated with harmful or coercive sexual behaviors also predicted sexual aggression amongst our sample. Psychological interventions using covert sensitization and satiation demonstrate success in modifying atypical sexual fantasies among incarcerated persons (see Bartels & Gannon, 2011); however, these approaches are likely to be difficult to implement in university settings.…”

“…US studies have highlighted strong links between sexually aggressive behaviors in male university students and typical indices of hostile masculinity, including rape myth acceptance and hostility toward women (e.g., Abbey et al, 2001;Vogel, 2000), as well as atypical sexual fantasies that center on coercive, controlling, or illicit sexual behaviors (e.g., raping a person; Greendlinger & Byrne, 1987). These findings have been validated by researchers in other countries (e.g., Chan, 2021;Čvek & Junaković, 2020;Martín et al, 2005;Tomaszewska & Krahé, 2018), suggesting that hostile masculinity constitutes a strong predictor of sexual aggression across male student groups globally.…”

Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors

“…Our findings support campus sexual assault studies from other countries, which have highlighted key psychological differences between males who have and have not engaged in recent sexual aggression in terms of specific attitudinal, personality, and experiential riskrelated factors (e.g., Abbey et al, 2001;Čvek & Junaković, 2020;D'Abreu & Krahé, 2014;Thompson et al, 2013). Given arguments that male sexual aggression is driven by hypermasculinity and adversarial sexual beliefs (see Abbey & McAuslan, 2004;Chan, 2021;Čvek & Junaković, 2020;Martín et al, 2005), it is unsurprising that high levels of hostility toward women, rape myth acceptance, and atypical sexual fantasies predicted past engagement in the behavior in our sample. To this end, our findings support the confluence model (Malamuth et al, 2021), which proposes that hostile masculinity-a pronounced obedience to traditional gender role beliefs for men-forms one of two key pathways to sexual aggression.…”

Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors

“…As in past international research (e.g., Chan, 2021;Greendlinger & Byrne, 1987), atypical sexual fantasies associated with harmful or coercive sexual behaviours also predicted sexual aggression amongst our sample. Psychological interventions using covert sensitization and satiation demonstrate success in modifying atypical sexual fantasies among incarcerated persons (see Bartels & Gannon, 2011); however, these approaches are likely to be difficult to implement in university settings.…”

“…US studies have highlighted strong links between sexually aggressive behaviours in male university students and typical indices of hostile masculinity, including rape myth acceptance and hostility toward women (e.g., Abbey et al, 2001;Vogel, 2000), as well as atypical sexual fantasies that center on coercive, controlling, or illicit sexual behaviors (e.g., raping a person; Greendlinger & Byrne, 1987). These findings have been validated by researchers in other countries (e.g., Chan, 2021;Čvek & Junaković;Martín et al, 2005;Tomaszewska & Krahé, 2018), suggesting that hostile masculinity constitutes a strong predictor of sexual aggression across male student groups globally.…”