Beliefs About Consent and Sexual Assault Perpetration in a Longitudinal Study of College Men.
This study examined the mediating role of beliefs about both active and passive consent in the prospective associations between sexual assault (SA) risk factors and coercive, incapacitated, and forcible attempted/completed SA among college men. Participants were 471 college men who completed self-report surveys at the end of each of their 4 years of college. SA risk factors (risky behavior, rape-supportive beliefs and peer norms, personality traits, childhood adversity) were assessed at Wave 1, beliefs about consent were assessed at Wave 2, and perpetration was assessed at Waves 3 and 4. Multivariate regression models with bias-corrected bootstrapping assessed longitudinal mediation. SA risk factors were negatively associated with endorsement of active consent (verbal approval required) and positively associated with passive consent (assume "yes" until you hear a "no"), with strongest effects observed for coercive SA. Both types of beliefs about consent served as mediators between risk factors and perpetration. Findings suggest that prevention programs should include a focus on reducing SA risk factors, clarifying definitions of consent, and improving sexual communication.
['Zinzow|Heidi M|HM|0000-0002-5545-5286', 'Thompson|Martie|M|0000-0002-5879-9615']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000704:Analysis of Variance D006801:Humans D007398:Interpersonal Relations D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D012307:Risk Factors D012309:Risk-Taking D012742:Sex Offenses D015144:Southeastern United States D013334:Students D014495:Universities D055815:Young Adult
rape-supportive beliefs peer norms communication rape sexual violence victimization