An Examination of Single Men's and Women's Sexual Aggressiveness in Dating Relationships

Abstract

This study focused on two forms of sexual aggression used in dating: pressure and manipulation, and antisocial acts. Two research questions were addressed using the responses of 463 males and 455 females. First, single men and women, and individuals with different commitment levels and different sexual motivations were compared in their use of sexual aggression. Significant interactions demonstrated these variables' importance. Second, the sexual aggression measures were regressed on individual and relationship variables. For men, attitudes, number of coital partners and relationship conflict were significant predictors of both forms of aggression, while feeling hostility toward women was predictive only for pressure and manipulation. For women, attitudes, number of coital partners and anger turned inward were predictive of both forms of aggression. Additionally, holding adversarial sexual beliefs and relationship ambivalence were predictive only for pressure and manipulation while relationship conflict was predictive only for antisocial acts. The importance of considering male and female sexual aggression in dating is discussed.