Perceptions of interest and agency explain disagreements about sexual violations

Abstract

Sexual violations have profound, negative impacts on victims. But although most people agree that sexual assault and other sexual violations are wrong, they often disagree about which acts constitute sexual violations. Moral psychological research suggests that evaluations about right and wrong actions are based on social perceptions, for instance about how actions affect others. Three studies examined whether perceptions about victims’ sexual interest and agency explain disagreements about ambiguous sexual violations (situations that lacked explicit and consistent consent or non-consent). The studies also examined whether such perceptions about sexual interest and agency in concrete situations related to general beliefs about sexual encounters, known as rape myths. Participants read hypothetical vignettes about potential sexual violations and reported their perceptions and evaluations of the events. Studies 1 and 2 found that, in response to ambiguous events, participants who perceived greater sexual interest and agency in the targets of sexual actions evaluated the actions more positively. The studies also found that, relative to ambiguous events, participants evaluated consensual events more positively and nonconsensual events less positively. As an experimental test of the effects of perceived target interest, Study 3 manipulated conventions for signaling sexual interest. The results provided experimental evidence that perceptions of sexual interest guide evaluations of potential sexual violations. Across the three studies, individual differences in two forms of Rape Myth Acceptance predicted perceptions of target interest and agency. This research provides evidence for how social perceptions shape evaluations of potentially ambiguous sexual events, thus validating a framework for explaining and preventing disagreements about sexual violations.