The effects of alcohol intoxication and sexual interest on men's sexual persistence and hostility in a dating simulation

Abstract

Perpetrators of sexual assault are often intoxicated; however, few experimental studies evaluate alcohol's "in the moment" effects on sexual aggression. This study extends past theory and research by examining the acute effects of alcohol on men's decisions about how to respond to sexual refusals in a dating simulation. Men (N = 62) ages 21-29 were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (target breath alcohol level 0.080%) or no alcohol. Participants were encouraged to talk to a simulated woman and act as they would on an actual date. They made choices from a list which included nonsexual and sexual options. The female agent was programmed to engage in some sexual activities but refuse others. Refusals became more intense if participants persisted. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to test a path analytic model. As predicted, participants' self-reported desire to have sex was positively associated with choosing more consensual sexual activities during the simulation (i.e., activities in which the woman willingly engaged). Consensual sexual activities were positively associated with the number of times participants persisted after the woman refused. Alcohol moderated this relationship such that it was stronger for intoxicated men than sober men. The more sexual refusals participants received, the more hostile verbal comments they made to the woman. Contrary to our predictions, this relationship was not moderated by alcohol condition. Because participants had multiple opportunities to escalate their aggression or desist, this paradigm provides new insights into the mechanisms through which intoxication enhances the likelihood of sexual aggression in dating situations.

Sexual Revictimization in College Women: Mediational Analyses Testing Hypothesized Mechanisms for Sexual Coercion and Sexual Assault

“…We hypothesized that heavy episodic drinking might similarly mediate sexual coercion because alcohol use impairs women’s ability to detect and respond effectively to risk in sexual scenarios, leaving them more susceptible to experiencing sexual coercion. Alcohol use also contributes to men’s misperceptions of women’s nonsexual cues as sexual (Abbey et al, 2005) and persistence in the face of women’s refusal (Woerner et al, 2018). We hypothesized that these effects might be enhanced within hookups, which are predicated on a lack of familiarity or agreement on what will occur (e.g., Garcia & Reiber, 2008), thereby being opportune settings for coercion to occur.…”

“…Alcohol intoxication is thought to contribute to assault risk through several mechanisms (see review: Melkonian & Ham, 2018). Alcohol consumption acutely impairs women’s ability to recognize and respond to risk in sexual scenarios (Parks, Levonyan-Radloff, Dearing, Hequembourg, & Testa, 2016; Testa, VanZile-Tamsen, Livingston, & Buddie, 2006) while impairing men’s ability to attend to women’s cues of disinterest (Abbey, Zawacki, & Buck, 2005) or to desist when women overtly refuse their advances (Woerner, Abbey, Pegram, & Helmers, 2018). Using a virtual reality paradigm, Woerner et al (2018) found that men who engaged in more lower level consensual sexual activity (e.g., touching) with a woman were more likely to persist in the face of her sexual refusals.…”

Just One Shot? The Contextual Effects of Matched and Unmatched Intoxication on Perceptions of Consent in Ambiguous Alcohol-fueled Sexual Encounters

“…Specifically, the fact that alcohol use is clearly linked with perpetration is somehow undermined by the belief that victims share the blame if they too are intoxicated (e.g., Hunt et al, 2021; James-Hawkins & Lamarche, forthcoming). Furthermore, in much of the extant survey research on this topic, it is difficult to separate alcohol use by the victim/perpetrator because both parties are often drinking (e.g., Zawacki et al, 2003; Pegram et al, 2018; Woerner et al, 2018). The current research addresses these methodological limitations by explicitly quantifying alcohol consumption, as well as whether quantities were matched or unmatched between partners, across scenarios.…”

Acute alcohol intoxication, state anger, and sexual assault perpetration: The role of state emotion regulation.

“…Alcohol is a robust predictor of sexual assault perpetration (Abbey, 2011). Individuals report greater sexual assault behaviors and intentions when intoxicated compared to when sober (Abbey, 2011; Shorey et al, 2014; Testa et al, 2019; Woerner et al, 2018). The association between acute intoxication and sexual assault perpetration may be explained by alcohol’s deleterious effects on information processing (e.g., alcohol myopia theory [AMT]).…”