Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Why Is There a Strong Positive Correlation Between Perpetration and Being a Victim of Sexual Coercion? An Exploratory Study

  • RISK FACTORS FOR VICTIMS AND PERPETRATORS OF VIOLENCE
  • Published:
Journal of Family Violence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine if the correlation between perpetration and being a victim of sexual coercion is due to a lack of self-control, a coercive lifestyle, or dysfunctional romantic relationships. Two hundred and sixty-two college students completed measures of perpetration and being a victim of sexual coercion, lack of self-control, coercive lifestyle, romantic partner’s coercive lifestyle, and partner’s perpetration and being a victim of sexual coercion. Support was not found for the lack of self-control and coercive lifestyle explanations; support was found for the dysfunctional relationships explanation. Multiple regression analyses found that the self-control variable that best (negatively) predicted both perpetration and being a victim of sexual coercion was valuing long-term, committed romantic relationships. Interventions to prevent perpetration and being a victim of sexual coercion should focus not only on the individual victim/perpetrator but also on promoting functional romantic relationships.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbey, A., Ross, L. T., McDuffie, D., & McAuslan, P. (1996). Alcohol, misperception, and sexual assault: How and why are they linked? In D. M. Buss & N. Malamuth (Eds.), Sex, power, conflict: Evolutionary and feminist perspectives (p. 138). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, P. B. (1996). Correlates of college women’s self-reports of heterosexual aggression. Sexual Abuse, 8, 121–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arneklev, B. J., Grasmick, H. G., & Bursik, R. J. (1998). Evaluating the dimensionality and invariance of “Low Self-Control”. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 15, 307–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1985). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Tierney, J. (2011). Will power: Rediscovery of the greatest human strength. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. S. (1981). A treatise on the family. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckman, L. J., & Ackerman, K. T. (1995). Women, alcohol, and sexuality. In M. Galanter (Ed.), Recent developments in alcoholism (Women and alcoholism, Vol. 12, pp. 267–285). New York: Plenum.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz, L. (1962). Aggression: A social psychological analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz, L. (1969). The frustration aggression hypothesis revisited. In L. Berkowtiz (Ed.), Roots of aggression (pp. 28–34). New York: Atherton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brousseau, M. M., Hebert, M., & Bergeron, S. (2012). Sexual coercion within mixed-sex couples: the roles of sexual motives, revictimization, and reperpetration. Journal of Sex Research, 49, 533–546.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buddie, A. M., & Testa, M. (2005). Rates and predictors of sexual aggression among students and nonstudents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 713–724.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, A. H., & Perry, M. (1992). The aggression questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452–459.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, D. (1971). The attraction paradigm. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, D., & Kelley, K. (1981). An introduction to personality (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81–105.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cantebury, R. J., Grossman, S. J., & Lloyd, E. (1993). Drinking behaviors and lifetime incidents of date rape among high school graduates upon entering college. College Student Development, 27, 75–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capaldi, D. M., Kim, H. K., & Shortt, J. W. (2007). Observed initiation and reciprocity of physical aggression in young, at-risk couples. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 101–111.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caspi, A., & Herbener, E. S. (1990). Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 250–258.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cordova, J. V., Jacobson, N. S., Gottman, J. M., Rushe, R., & Cox, G. (1993). Negative reciprocity and communication in couples with a violent husband. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 559–564.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dunkel, C. S., Mathes, E., & Beaver, K. M. (2013). Life history theory and the general theory of crime: life expectancy effects on low self-control and criminal intent. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 7, 12–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Figueredo, A. J., Vasquez, G., Brumbacj, B. J., Schneider, S., Sefcek, J., Tal, I., et al. (2006). Consilience and life history theory: from genes to brain to reproductive strategy. Developmental Review, 26, 243–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamez-Guadix, M., Straus, M. A., & Hershberger, S. (in press). Childhood and adolescent victimization and perpetration of sexual coercion by male and female university students. Deviant Behavior.

  • Gladden, P. R., Sisco, M., & Figueredo, A. J. (2008). Sexual coercion and life-history strategy. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29, 319–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottman, J. M. (1998). Psychology and the study of marital processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 169–197.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grasmick, H. G., Tittle, C. R., Bursik, R. J., & Arneklev, B. J. (1993). Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 5–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Himelein, M. J., Vogel, R. E., & Wachowiak, D. G. (1994). Nonconsensual sexual experiences in precollege females: prevalence and risk factors. Journal of Counseling and Development, 72, 411–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. J., & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2007). The structure and measurement of human mating strategies: toward a multidimensional model of sociosexuality. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 382–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, M. S. (2002). “Gender symmetry” in domestic violence: a substantive and methodological research review. Violence Against Women, 8, 1332–1363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koss, M. P., & Oros, C. J. (1982). Sexual experiences survey: a research instrument investigating sexual aggression and victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 455–457.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koss, M. P., Gidycz, C. A., & Wisniewski, N. (1987). The scope of rape: incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of higher education students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 162–170.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krahe, B., Waizenhofer, E., & Moller, I. (2003). Women’s sexual aggression against men: prevalence and predictors. Sex Roles, 49, 219–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larimer, M. E., Lydum, A. R., Anderson, B. K., & Turner, A. P. (1999). Male and female recipients of unwanted sexual contact in a college student sample: prevalence rates, alcohol use, and depression symptoms. Sex Roles, 40, 295–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loh, C., & Gidycz, C. A. (2006). A prospective analysis of the relationship between childhood sexual victimization and perpetration of dating violence and sexual assault in adulthood. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 732–749.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lyndon, A. E., White, J. W., & Kadiec, K. M. (2007). Manipulation and force as sexual coercion tactics: conceptual and empirical differences. Aggressive Behavior, 33, 291–303.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mathes, E. W., & McCoy, J. (2011). Perpetration of sexual coercion and victim of sexual coercion scales: development and validation. Psychological Reports, 108, 449–469.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, N. E. (1941). The frustration-aggression hypothesis. Psychological Review, 48, 337–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, B. C., Monson, B. H., & Norton, M. C. (1995). The effects of forced sexual intercourse on white female adolescents. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19, 1289–1301.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Quinton, D., Pickles, A., Maughan, B., & Rutter, M. (1993). Partners, peers, and pathways: assortative pairing and continuities in conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 763–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romano, E., & De Luca, R. V. (1997). Exploring the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adult sexual perpetration. Journal of Family Violence, 12, 85–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romano, E., & De Luca, R. V. (2001). Male sexual abuse: a review of effects, abuse characteristics and links with later psychological functioning. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 6, 55–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, B. L., & Oswald, D. L. (2001). Strategies and dispositional correlates of sexual coercion perpetrated by women: an exploratory investigation. Sex Roles, 45, 103–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, B. L., & Oswald, D. L. (2002). Sexual coercion and victimization of college men: the role of love styles. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 273–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senn, C. Y., Desmarais, S., Verberg, N., & Wood, E. (2000). Predicting coercive sexual behavior across the lifespan in a random sample of Canadian men. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 95–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: the conflict tactics scales. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 75–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised conflict tactics scales (CTS2). Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. P., & Pisano, R. (1971). Physical aggression as a function of frustration and physical attack. Journal of Social Psychology, 84, 261–267.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tedeschi, J. T., & Felson, R. B. (1994). Violence, aggression, and coercive actions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thorndike, E. L. (1920). A constant error in psychological ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 4, 25–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toch, H. (1969). Violent men. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toch, H. (1993). Violent men: A psychological inquiry into the psychology of violence. Washington: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, B. J., Furman, W., & Jones, M. C. (2012). Changes in adolescent’s risk factors following peer sexual coercion: evidence for a feedback loop. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 559–571.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zweig, J. M., Sayer, A., Crockett, L. J., & Vicary, J. R. (2002). Adolescent risk factors for sexual victimization: a longitudinal analysis of rural women. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 586–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author Note

I would like to thank Dr. Melanie Hetzel Riggin for her helpful comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, 61455, USA

    Eugene W. Mathes

Authors
  1. Eugene W. Mathes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eugene W. Mathes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mathes, E.W. Why Is There a Strong Positive Correlation Between Perpetration and Being a Victim of Sexual Coercion? An Exploratory Study. J Fam Viol 28, 783–796 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9548-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9548-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation