The current study examined the extent to which evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression (i.e., positive or negative evaluative judgments about sexually aggressive behavior) mediate the association between injunctive norms (i.e., extent to which peers approve or disapprove of sexually aggressive behavior) and self-reported sexual aggression against women. Participants were 200 male undergraduate students. Approximately one in four males reported engaging in at least one sexually aggressive act since the age of 16. Participants with a history of sexual aggression also reported the highest likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. We tested two separate mediation models to examine the extent to which evaluative attitudes account for the link between injunctive norms and sexual aggression: one model with self-reported history of sexual aggression as the outcome and the other with likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior as the outcome. Results showed that more positive evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression accounted for the association between injunctive norms and self-reported history of sexual aggression. Similarly, evaluative attitudes accounted for the link between injunctive norms and self-reported likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. Overall, these findings are consistent with theoretical and empirical explanations of sexual offending and general criminal behavior; however, this is the first study to explore the relationship between injunctive norms and evaluative attitudes in the context of explaining sexually aggressive behavior. If more rigorous research establishes a causal relationship between injunctive norms, evaluative attitudes, and sexually aggressive behavior, this would suggest that targeting these factors in prevention programs may reduce sexual aggression by male undergraduate students.
AbbeyA.McAuslanP.ZawackiT.ClintonA. M.BuckP. O. (2001). Attitudinal, experiential, and situational predictors of sexual assault perpetration. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16, 784–807. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626001016008004
2.
AbbeyA.ParkhillM. R.KossM. P. (2005). The effects of frame of reference on responses to questions about sexual assault victimization and perpetration. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29, 364–373. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00236.x
3.
AguinisH.GottfredsonR. K.JooH. (2013). Best-practice recommendations for defining, identifying, and handling outliers. Organizational Research Methods, 16, 270–301. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428112470848
4.
AjzenI. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
AndersonR.SilverK.CiampagliaA.VitaleA.DelahantyD.AndersonR. (2019). The frequency of sexual perpetration in college men: A systematic review of reported prevalence rates from 2000 to 2017. Trauma, Violence & Abuse. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838019860619
7.
AronsonE.WilsonT. D.AkertR. M.FehrB. (2006). Fundamentals of social psychology: Canadian edition. Pearson.
8.
Basile, K. C., DeGue, S., Jones, K., Freire, K., Dills, J., Smith, S. G., Raiford, J.L. (2016). STOP SV: A technical package to prevent sexual violence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
9.
CampbellR.DworkinE.CabralG. (2009). An ecological model of the impact of sexual assault on women’s mental health. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10, 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838009334456
10.
ChoudharyE.SmithM.BossarteR. M. (2012). Depression, anxiety, and symptom profiles among female and male victims of sexual violence. American Journal of Men’s Health, 6, 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988311414045
11.
CialdiniR. B.RenoR. R.KallgrenC. A. (1990). A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 1015–1026. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.1015
12.
CokerA. L.FisherB. S.BushH. M.SwanS. C.WilliamsC. M.ClearE. R.DeGueS. (2015). Evaluation of the Green Dot bystander intervention to reduce interpersonal violence among college students across three campuses. Violence Against Women, 12, 1507–1527. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801214545284
13.
DardisC. M.MurphyM. J.BillA. C.GidyczC. A. (2016). An investigation of the tenets of social norms theory as they relate to sexually aggressive attitudes and sexual assault perpetration: A comparison of men and their friends. Psychology of Violence, 6, 163–171. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039443
14.
DarlingtonR. B.HayesA. F. (2016). Regression analysis and linear models: Concepts, applications, and implementation. Guilford Press.
15.
DavisK. C.GilmoreA. K.StappenbeckC. A.BalsanM. J.GeorgeW. H.NorrisJ. (2014). How to score the sexual experiences survey? A comparison of nine methods. Psychology of Violence, 4, 445–461. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037494
EdwardsS. R.VogelD. L. (2015). Young men’s likelihood ratings to be sexually aggressive as a function of norms and perceived sexual interest. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 16, 88–96. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035439
18.
ElliottD. M.MokD. S.BriereJ. (2004). Adult sexual assault: Prevalence, symptomatology, and sex differences in the general population. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 203–211. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOTS.0000029263.11104.23
19.
FedinaL.HolmesJ. L.BackesB. L. (2018). Campus sexual assault: A systematic review of prevalence research from 2000 to 2015. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 19, 76–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838016631129
20.
Franklin, C., Bouffard, L., & Pratt, T. (2012). Sexual assault on the college campus: Fraternity affiliation, male peer support, and low self-control. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39, 1457–1480. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854812456527
GawronskiB.BodenhausenG. V. (2006). Associative and propositional processes in evaluation: An integrative review of implicit and explicit attitude change. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 692–731. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.5.692
23.
GawronskiB.StrackF. (2004). On the propositional nature of cognitive consistency: Dissonance changes explicit, but not implicit attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 535–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2003.10.005
24.
GidyczC. A.OrchowskiL. M.KingC. R.RichC. L. (2008). Sexual victimization and health-risk behaviors: A prospective analysis of college women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23, 744–763. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260507313944
25.
GrubbA.TurnerE. (2012). Attribution of blame in rape cases: A review of the impact of rape myth acceptance, gender role conformity and substance use on victim blaming. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 443–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.06.002
26.
HayesA. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
27.
HermannC. A.NunesK. L. (2018). Implicit and explicit evaluations of sexual aggression predict subsequent sexually aggressive behavior in a sample of community men. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 30, 510–532. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063216682952
28.
HermannC. A.NunesK. L.MaimoneS. (2018). Examining implicit and explicit evaluations of sexual aggression and sexually aggressive behavior in men recruited online. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 30, 484–509. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063216681560
29.
Hermann, C. A., Pham, A. T., & Nunes, K. L. (2016, November). Likelihood to rape predicts subsequent sexually aggressive behavior (C. A. Hermann, Chair., Proclivity to rape, cognitions about rape, and aggressive sexual fantasies) [Conference session]. 35th Annual Research and Treatment Convention of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, Orlando, FL, United States.
30.
KossM. P.GidyczC. A.WisniewskiN. (1987). The scope of rape: Incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of higher education students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 162–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.55.2.162
31.
Koss, M., Abbey, A., Campbell, R., Cook, S., Norris, J., Testa, M., … White, J. (2007). Revising the SES: A collaborative process to improve assessment of sexual aggression and victimization. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00385.x
32.
KrahéB.BergerA. (2013). Men and women as perpetrators and victims of sexual aggression in heterosexual and same-sex encounters: A study of first-year college students in Germany. Aggressive Behavior, 39, 391–404. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21482
33.
LohC.GidyczC. A.LoboT. R.LuthraR. (2005). A prospective analysis of sexual assault perpetration: Risk factors related to perpetrator characteristics. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 1325–1348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260505278528
34.
MegensK. C. I. M.WeermanF. M. (2012). The social transmission of delinquency: Effects of peer attitudes and behavior revisited. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 49, 420–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427811408432
35.
NunesK. L.HermannC. A.MaimoneS.WoodsM. (2015). Thinking clearly about violent cognitions: Attitudes may be distinct from other cognitions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30, 1322–1347. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514540329
36.
NunesK. L.HermannC. A.RatcliffeK. (2013). Implicit and explicit attitudes towards rape are associated with sexual aggression. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 2657–2675. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260513487995
37.
NunesK. L.HermannC. A.WhiteK.PettersenC.BumbyK. (2018). Attitude may be everything, but is everything an attitude? Cognitive distortions may not be evaluations of rape. Sexual Abuse, 30, 43–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063215625489
38.
PettyR.CacioppoJ. (1986). Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. Springer.
39.
RothmanE. F.ExnerD.BaughmanA. L. (2011). The prevalence of sexual assault against people who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual in the United States: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 12, 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838010390707
40.
Schatzel-MurphyE. A.HarrisD. A.KnightR. A.MilburnM. A. (2009). Sexual coercion in men and women: Similar behaviors, different predictors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 974–986. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9481-y
41.
SchwartzM. D.DeKeseredyW. S. (1997). Sexual assault on the college campus: The role of male peer support. Sage.
42.
SmithS. G.ZhangX.BasileK. C.MerrickM. T.WangJ.KresnowM.ChenJ. (2018). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2015 data brief: Updated release. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
43.
Snider, J. G. 1., & Osgood, C. E. (1968). Semantic differential technique. Aldine Pub. Co.
44.
SritharanR.GawronskiB. (2010). Changing implicit and explicit prejudice: Insights from the associative-propositional evaluation model. Social Psychology, 41, 113–123. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000017
45.
SutherlandE. H. (1947). Principles of criminology (4th ed.). Lippincott.
46.
TerryD. J.HoggM. A.WhiteK. M. (1999). The theory of planned behavior: Self-identity, social identity, and group norms. British Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 225–244. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466699164149
47.
ThompsonM. P.KossM. P.KingreeJ. B.GoreeJ.RiceJ. (2011). A prospective mediational model of sexual aggression among college men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 2716–2734. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260510388285
48.
ThompsonM. P.SwartoutK. M.KossM. P. (2013). Trajectories and predictors of sexually aggressive behaviors during emerging adulthood. Psychology of Violence, 3, 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030624
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
