The Role of Sexual Victimization in Women’s Perceptions of Others’ Sexual Interest

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between women’s sexual victimization experiences and their perceptions of sexual interest for an actor’s mundane, romantic, and sexual behaviors. Three hundred twenty-nine undergraduate women were divided into four mutually exclusive categories: women sexually victimized through verbal coercion, through intoxication, through force or threat of force, and women who reported only consensual sexual experiences. The women rated the sexual connotativeness of a list of dating behaviors, rating either a male or a female actor. Overall, women perceived more sexual interest in men’s behavior than in women’s comparable behavior. Moreover, women who had been victimized through force or threat of force perceived more sexual interest than nonvictimized women in a man’s target behaviors. There was no difference among women for a woman’s target behaviors. Women who have been sexually victimized may become more vigilant of men’s behaviors after experiencing sexual aggression.