Correlates of College Women's Self-Reports of Heterosexual Aggression

Abstract

Traditional Westem social and sexual scripts have discouraged women from expressing sexual interest or initiating sexual behaviors. For the present study, 212 women attending sexuality classes in the New York/New Jersey area volunteered anonymously to complete a questionnaire that measured demographics, sexual attitudes, and sexual behaviors. The instrument was designed to identify predictors of the respondents' sexually aggressive behaviors toward men. Sexual aggression, in this instance, is defined as initiating sexual contact (kissing, fondling, or intercourse) by using sexual coercion (e.g., threatening to end a relationship, verbal pressure, or lying), sexual abuse (e.g., sex with a minor by an adult at least 5 years older than the minor, by inducing intoxication, or by using a position of power or authority), or physically forced sex (i.e., by the threat of physical force, actual physical force, or the use of a weapon). Following tests for the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, phi coefficients, multiple regression, and chi-square analysis were completed and indicated that both the experience of past sexual abuse and the attitudinal subscale of adversarial beliefs about sexual relationships were independently related to women's heterosexual aggression. Social leaming theory has been used to explain the development of aggressive attitudes and behaviors. The contributions of adversarial beliefs and past sexual abuse to heterosexual aggression among this sample of college women are discussed in relation to the social construction of gender and two specific aspects of social leaming theory.