The Role of Sexual Arousal and Overperception of Sexual Intent Within the Decision to Engage in Sexual Coercion

Abstract

Sexual coercion is a significant problem on college campuses despite numerous attempts to better understand and prevent it. Some criminological research has examined the role of sexual arousal in decisions to use coercion and force, while psychologists have studied how overperception of sexual interest relates to coercive behaviors. The current study combines these two lines of research to examine whether sexual arousal increases the perception of sexual interest in a hypothetical coercion scenario. A sample of 387 college males were randomly placed into arousal and control conditions and asked to watch either erotic material or a lecture and complete questions regarding a common social dating scenario. Bivariate and multivariate results indicated significant relationships between sexual arousal and overperception of sexual intent with the decision to engage in sexually coercive behaviors, as well as a mediation effect. The implications for theory and sexual assault prevention are discussed.