Low Self-Control and Sexual Coercion Among College Students: Examining Rape Myth Acceptance and Hypersexuality as Potential Mediators

Abstract

Researchers have examined the role of low self-control in sexually coercive behaviors over the past few decades. While a handful of studies have found low self-control to be directly associated with sexual coercion, some researchers have pointed to other factors that should be considered. The purpose of the current study is to examine the association between low self-control and sexual coercion in college men and women, with the inclusion of two factors shown to be important in predicting sexually coercive behaviors: rape myth acceptance and hypersexuality. The results of this study mirror what has been found in previous research. Namely, low self-control had an indirect effect on sexually coercive behavior through rape myth acceptance and hypersexuality, and that direct effects for low self-control are fully mediated once these other variables are added to the model. This indicates that while low self-control does play a role in sexually coercive behaviors, it is not the only factor that must be considered. This is especially true for hypersexuality, which has been a treatment target for practitioners working with individuals who have sexually offended. The results of this study affirm previous findings regarding the importance of addressing rape myths to prevent sexually coercive behaviors and highlight the need to also address hypersexuality, to develop more effective prevention programming.