Sexual harassment and assault against women are global and public issues that must be addressed. Previous studies indicate that men’s misunderstanding regarding women’s sexual consent may be a key factor in sexual harassment and sexual assault cases. The underlying mechanism for the association between men’s sexual interest perception and sexual harassment/assault behavior, however, remains unclear. In this study, we explored whether cognition bias (i.e., sexual refusal cognition bias, which include interpretation bias and behavioral intentions) mediated the association between men’s sexual interest perception and sexual harassment/assault against women. A sample of 280 heterosexual Chinese men were recruited. A measure of sexual refusal cognition bias was developed, encompassing two factors: interpretation bias and behavioral intentions. Sexual refusal cognition bias was significantly associated with sexual harassment and sexual assault. Sexual interest perception had a significant indirect effect (β = 0.130/0.071) on sexual harassment and sexual assault through serial mediations of interpretation bias and behavioral intentions. These findings may be valuable in enhancing an understanding of sexual violence against women and contribute to sexual assault and sexual harassment prevention and education efforts.
AbbeyA. (1982). Sex differences in attributions for friendly behavior: Do males misperceive females' friendliness?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42(5), 830–838. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.42.5.830
2.
AbbeyA.Jacques‐TiuraA. J.LeBretonJ. M. (2011). Risk factors for sexual aggression in young men: An expansion of the confluence model. Aggressive Behavior, 37(5), 450–464. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20399
3.
AbbeyA.McAuslanP.RossL. T. (1998). Sexual assault perpetration by college men: The role of alcohol, misperception of sexual intent, and sexual beliefs and experiences. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 17(2), 167–195. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.1998.17.2.167
4.
AndersenP. A. (1998). The cognitive valence theory of intimate communication. In PalmerM. T.BarnettG. A. (Eds.), Mutual influence in interpersonal communication: Theory and research in cognition, affect, and behaviors Progress in communication sciences (14, pp. 39–72). Ablex.
BendixenM. (2014). Evidence of systematic bias in sexual over-and underperception of naturally occurring events: A direct replication of in a more gender-equal culture. Evolutionary Psychology: An International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior, 12(5), 1004–1021. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491401200510
7.
BinghamS. G.BurlesonB. R. (1996). The development of a sexual harassment proclivity scale: Construct validation and relationship to communication competence. Communication Quarterly, 44(3), 308–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463379609370020
8.
BondurantB.DonatP. L. (1999). Perceptions of women’s sexual interest and acquaintance rape: The role of sexual overperception and affective attitudes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23(4), 691–705. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1999.tb00392.x
9.
CaoY. (2018). The effects of gender and attractiveness on perception of sexual intentions. Southwest University. Master’s thesis.
DartnallE.JewkesR. (2013). Sexual violence against women: The scope of the problem. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 27(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2012.08.002
12.
FarrisC.TreatT. A.VikenR. J.McFallR. M. (2008a). Perceptual mechanisms that characterize gender differences in decoding women's sexual intent. Psychological Science, 19(4), 348–354. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02092.x
13.
FarrisC.TreatT. A.VikenR. J.McFallR. M. (2008b). Sexual coercion and the misperception of sexual intent. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(1), 48–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2007.03.002
14.
HartJ.HowardR. M. (2016). I want her to want me: Sexual misperception as a function of heterosexual men's romantic attachment style. Personality and Individual Differences, 92, 97–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.12.031
15.
HaseltonM. G. (2003). The sexual overperception bias: Evidence of a systematic bias in men from a survey of naturally occurring events. Journal of Research in Personality, 37(1), 34–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00529-9
16.
HaseltonM. G.BussD. M. (2000). Error management theory: A new perspective on biases in cross-sex mind reading. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.1.81
HenningsenD. D.HenningsenM. L. M. (2010). Testing error management theory: Exploring the commitment skepticism bias and the sexual overperception bias. Human Communication Research, 36(4), 618–634. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2010.01391.x
19.
HenningsenD. D.HenningsenM. L. M.ValdeK. S. (2006). Gender differences in perceptions of women’s sexual interest during cross-sex interactions: An application and extension of cognitive valence theory. Sex Roles, 54(11-12), 821–829. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9050-y
20.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
21.
JozkowskiK. N.HumphreysT. P. (2014). Sexual consent on college campuses: Implications for sexual assault prevention education. The Health Educator, 31(2), 31–36.
22.
JozkowskiK. N.MarcantonioT. L.RhoadsK. E.CananS.HuntM. E.WillisM. (2019). A content analysis of sexual consent and refusal communication in mainstream films. The Journal of Sex Research, 56(6), 754–765. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2019.1595503
23.
KoenigB. L.KirkpatrickL. A.KetelaarT. (2007). Misperception of sexual and romantic interests in opposite‐sex friendships: Four hypotheses. Personal Relationships, 14(3), 411–429. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00163.x
24.
KossM. P.GainesJ. A. (1993). The prediction of sexual aggression by alcohol use, athletic participation, and fraternity affiliation. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8(1), 94–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626093008001007
25.
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(2), 162–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.55.2.162
26.
KrugE. G.MercyJ. A.DahlbergL. L.ZwiA. B. (2002). The world report on violence and health. Lancet (London, England), 360(9339), 1083–1088. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11133-0
27.
LieberE.ChinD.LiL.Rotheram-BorusM. J.DetelsR.WuZ.GuanJ.National Institute of Mental Health NIMH Collaborative HIV Prevention Trial Group. (2009). Sociocultural contexts and communication about sex in China: Informing HIV/STD prevention programs. AIDS Education and Prevention: Official Publication of the International Society for AIDS Education, 21(5), 415–429. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2009.21.5.415
28.
LindgrenK. P.ParkhillM. R.GeorgeW. H.HendershotC. S. (2008). Gender differences in perceptions of sexual intent: A qualitative review and integration. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32(4), 423–439. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.00456.x
29.
LittleN. J. (2005). From no means no to only yes means yes: The rational results of an affirmative consent standard in rape law. Vanderbilt Law Review, 58(4), 1321–1364. https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol58/iss4/5
30.
LiuM. (2012). Speaking the unspeakable: An exploratory study of college women’s sex communication in Shanghai, China. Asian Journal of Communication, 22(2), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2011.642396
31.
LuoX. (2021). The consent in criminal law (In Chinese). Yunnan People’s Publishing House.
32.
MarcantonioT. L.JozkowskiK. N.LoW. J. (2018). Beyond “just saying no”: A preliminary evaluation of strategies college students use to refuse sexual activity. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47(2), 341–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-017-1130-2
33.
MarcantonioT. L.ValdezD.JozkowskiK. N. (2022). An assessment of the cues college students interpret from a sexual partner to determine they are refusing. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(13-14), NP12352–NP12374. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260521997
34.
MoyanoN.Sánchez-FuentesM.Parra-BarreraS. M.Granados de HaroR. (2023). Only “yes” means “yes”: Negotiation of sex and its link with sexual violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(3–4), 2759–2777. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605221102483
PerillouxC.EastonJ. A.BussD. M. (2012). The misperception of sexual interest. Psychological Science, 23(2), 146–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976114241
38.
PinaA.GannonT. A.SaundersB. (2009). An overview of the literature on sexual harassment: Perpetrator, theory, and treatment issues. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(2), 126–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.01.002
39.
RerickP. O.LivingstonT. N.DavisD. (2024). Let’s just do it: Sexual arousal’s effects on attitudes regarding sexual consent. The Journal of Social Psychology, 164(4), 456–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2022.2106174
40.
ShaferA.OrtizR. R.ThompsonB.HuemmerJ. (2018). The role of hypermasculinity, token resistance, rape myth, and assertive sexual consent communication among college men. Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 62(3), S44–S50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.10.015
41.
ShiX.ZhengY. (2022a). Hostile and benevolent sexism and attitudes toward establishing consent among Chinese men: The detrimental role of token resistance beliefs and binge drinking. Sex Roles, 87(1-2), 52–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01298-x
42.
ShiX.ZhengY. (2022b). Sexual victimization in adulthood and associated factors among men and women: Cross-sectional evidence from mainland China. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(2), 1001–1017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02257-5
43.
TarkaP. (2017). The comparison of estimation methods on the parameter estimates and fit indices in SEM model under 7-point Likert scale. Archives of Data Science, 2(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.5445/KSP/1000058749/10
44.
ThomasA. M.KitzingerC. (1997). Sexual harassment. In Contemporary feminist perspectives. Open University Press.
TreatT. A.VikenR. J.FarrisC. A.SmithJ. R. (2016). Enhancing the accuracy of men’s perceptions of women’s sexual interest in the laboratory. Psychology of Violence, 6(4), 562–572. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039845
WiedermanM. (2015). Sexual script theory: Past, present, and future. In DeLamaterJ.PlanteR. (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of sexualities. handbooks of sociology and social research. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17341-2_2
49.
World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Retrieved from. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/85239/?sequence=1
50.
World Health Organization. (2021). Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2018: Global, regional and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and global and regional prevalence estimates for non-partner sexual violence against women: Executive summary. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/341338
51.
WrightP. J.VangeelL. (2019). Pornography, permissiveness, and sex differences: An evaluation of social learning and evolutionary explanations. Personality and Individual Differences, 143(4), 128–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.019
52.
YangZ.ZhengL. (2024). Mechanism of the association between men’s self-perceived attractiveness and sexual interest perception: The mediating paths of positive and negative mating efficacies. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 39(2), 390–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2022.2033968
