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Predictors of Sexual Coercion Against Women and Men: A Multilevel, Multinational Study of University Students

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Abstract

Several explanations have been forwarded to account for sexual coercion in romantic relationships. Feminist theory states that sexual coercion is the result of male dominance over women and the need to maintain that dominance; however, studies showing that women sexually coerce men point towards weaknesses in that theory. Some researchers have, therefore, suggested that it is the extent to which people view the other gender as hostile that influences these rates. Furthermore, much research suggests that a history of childhood sexual abuse is a strong risk factor for later sexual victimization in relationships. Few researchers have empirically evaluated the first two explanations and little is known about whether sexual revictimization operates for men or across cultures. In this study, hierarchical linear modeling was used to investigate whether the status of women and adversarial sexual beliefs predicted differences in sexual coercion across 38 sites from around the world, and whether sexual revictimization operated across genders and cultures. Participants included 7,667 university students from 38 sites. Results showed that the relative status of women at each site predicted significant differences in levels of sexual victimization for men, in that the greater the status of women, the higher the level of forced sex against men. In addition, differences in adversarial sexual beliefs across sites significantly predicted both forced and verbal sexual coercion for both genders, such that greater levels of hostility towards women at a site predicted higher levels of forced and verbal coercion against women and greater levels of hostility towards men at a site predicted higher levels of forced and verbal coercion against men. Finally, sexual revictimization occurred for both genders and across all sites, suggesting that sexual revictimization is a cross-gender, cross-cultural phenomenon. Results are discussed in terms of their contributions to the literature, limitations of the current study, and suggestions for future research.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health grant T32MH15161 and by the University of New Hampshire. Special thanks go to the Family Research Laboratory and Crimes Against Children Research Center's seminar participants for their valuable comments and suggestions on a previous draft of this article. This article is part of the International Dating Violence Study. Other papers from that study can be downloaded from htttp://pubpages.unh.edu/∼mas2.

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  1. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, 870 Broadway St., Lowell, Massachusetts, 01854, USA

    Denise A. Hines

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  1. Denise A. Hines
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Correspondence to Denise A. Hines.

Appendix

Appendix

Sexual Abuse History (SAH) Scale of the Personal and Relationships Profile (PRP)

The SAH scale is one of 23 scales that comprise the PRP (Straus et al., 1999). The full PRP and information on the reliability and validity of each of the scales is available on http://pubpages.unh.edu/∼mas2

By Adult in Family

  1. 1.

    Before I was 18, an adult in my family made me look at or touch their private parts (sex organs), or looked at or touched mine.

  2. 2.

    Before I was 18, an adult in my family had sex with me (vaginal, anal, or oral).

    By Adult Non-Family

  3. 3.

    Before I was 18, an adult who was not part of my family made me look at or touch their private parts (sex organs), or looked at or touched mine.

  4. 4.

    Before I was 18, an adult who was not part of my family had sex with me (vaginal, anal, or oral).

    By Child in Family

  5. 5.

    Before I was 18, another kid in my family made me look at or touch their private parts (sex organs), or looked at or touched mine.

  6. 6.

    Before I was 18, another kid in my family did things to me that I now think was sexual abuse.

    By Child Non-Family

  7. 7.

    Before I was 18, another kid who was not part of my family made me look at or touch their private parts (sex organs), or looked at or touched mine.

  8. 8.

    Before I was 18, another kid who was not part of my family did things to me that I now think was sexual abuse.

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Hines, D.A. Predictors of Sexual Coercion Against Women and Men: A Multilevel, Multinational Study of University Students. Arch Sex Behav 36, 403–422 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9141-4

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