The relationship of male self-report of rape supportive attitudes, sexual fantasy, social desirability and physiological arousal to sexually coercive stimuli

Abstract

Studies have supported the finding that sexually coercive behavior exists between males and females on college campuses and that when women say "no" to sexual behavior, men do not believe them. This study utilized penile plethysmography to investigate male sexual arousal to rape myth scenarios in a college population. The scenarios portrayed a woman who said "no" to sexually coercive intercourse behavior by a male. Results indicated that a low level of social desirability, sexual fantasies involving group sexual activity, as well as hurting and being hurt by a partner were associated with greater levels of physiological responding to coercive stimuli. Supportive attitudes about rape showed no relationship with physiological responding, yet did correlate with the sexual fantasy of being hurt by a partner, which was itself related to increased sexual arousal to sexually coercive audio stimuli.

Psychosexual Characteristics of Women Reporting Sexual Aggression Against Men

“…These students were found to present increased genital responses (as measured by penile plethysmography) to stimuli displaying sexual coercion against women (Lohr, Adams, & Davis, 1997). Furthermore, erectile response was also correlated with sexual fantasies of dominance and submission in a sample of male college students (Plaud & Bigwood, 1997). In addition, sociosexuality (i.e., the positive appraisal of sexual activity with a variety of partners and outside a committed relationship) was found to characterize a sample of male college students reporting sexual aggression against women (Yost & Zurbriggen, 2006).…”

‘Locker room talk’: male bonding and sexual degradation in drinking stories

“…However, in some instances, the telling of a questionable story in a male-male context also allowed self-reflexivity as well as embarrassment. Some men did not regard sexual acts that we considered clearly aggressive to be true assaults, echoing research on men who have supportive attitudes towards rape (Plaud and Bigwood 1997). However, even in this highly selective subsample, most seemed to realise that such behaviour could be problematic and their drinking stories clearly demonstrated this ambiguity.…”

Effect of Sex Offenders Treatment Program on Cognitive and Emotional Characteristics of Mentally Ill Sex Offenders

“… reported that the higher the degree of acceptance for the rape myth, the greater the tendency to commit sex crimes. Plaud and Bigwood stated that the cognitive distortions about rape worked as factors causing sex crimes. Before treatment, scores on the sex myth scale were also high for mentally ill sex offenders but were significantly reduced after the treatment.…”