Abstract
One hundred female and 77 male college students completed a questionnaire in which they indicated whether they had ever used physical or verbal coercive strategies to initiate sexual behavior with a partner, or had ever engaged in sexual behavior in response to a partner's coercive initiatives. Results showed that males are far more likely than females to initiate coerced sexual behavior and females are more likely to be victimized. In addition, masculine persons reported using coercive strategies more than other sex role orientation types. However, this was due principally to the fact that males were masculine types much more frequently than females. Therefore, sex (that is, being male or female) seems a more critical factor in determining, initiating, or responding to sexual coercion than sex role orientation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ageton, S. S. Sexual assault among adolescents. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1983.
Allgeier, E. R. The influence of androgynous identification on heterosexual relations. Sex Roles, 1981, 7, 321–330.
Bem, S. L. Sex role adaptability: One consequence of psychological androgyny. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 31, 634–643.
Bem, S. L. On the utility of alternative procedures for assessing psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1977, 45, 196–205.
Bernard, J. L., Bernard, S. L., & Bernard, M. L. Courtship violence and sex-typing. Family Relations, 1985, 34, 573–576.
Brehony, K. A., & Geller, E. S. Relationship between psychological androgyny, social conformity, and perceived locus of control. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1981, 6, 27–46.
Burt, M. A conceptual frame work victimological research. Victimology, 1983, 8, 261–269.
Falbo, T. PAQ types and power strategies used in intimate relationships. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1982, 6, 399–405.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 1986.
Frieze, I. H., Hymer, S., & Greenberg, M. S. Describing the victims of crime and violence. American Psychological Association Task Force on the Victims of Crime and Violence, 1984, 17–78.
Garcia, L. Sex role orientation and stereotypes about male and female sexuality. Sex Roles, 1972, 8, 863–876.
Grauerholz, E., & Serpe, R. T. Initiation and response: The dynamics of sexual interaction. Sex Roles, 1985, 12, 1041–1059.
Kanin, E. J. Male aggression in dating-courtship relations. American Journal of Sociology, 1957, 63, 197–204.
Kanin, E. J., & Parcell, S. R. Sexual aggression: A second look at the offended female. Archives of Sexual behavior, 1977, 6, 67–76.
Kimlicka, T., Cross, H., & Tarnai, J. A comparison of androgynous, feminine, masculine, and unidfferentiated women on self-esteem, body satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1983, 7, 291–295.
Kirkpatrick, C., & Kanin, E. J. Male sex aggression on a university campus. American Sociological Review, 1957, 22, 52–58.
Korman, S. K. Nontraditional dating behavior: Date initiation and date expense sharing among feminists and nonfeminists. Family Relations, 1983, 32, 575–581.
Koss, M. P. The hidden rape victim: Personality, attitudinal, and situational characteristics. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1985, 9, 193–212.
Koss, M. P., & Oros, C. J. Sexual Experiences Survey: A research instrument investigating sexual aggression and victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1982, 50, 455–457.
Koss, M. P., Gidycz, C. A., & Wisniewski, N. The scope of rape: Incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a natural sample of higher education students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1987, 55, 162–170.
Koss, M. P., Leonard, K. E., Beezley, D. A., & Oros, C. J. Non-stranger sexual aggression: A discriminant analysis of the psychological characteristics of undetected offenders. Sex Roles, 1985, 12, 981–992.
Lewin, M. Unwanted intercourse: The difficulty of saying no. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1985, 9, 184–192.
Makepeace, J. M. Gender differences in courtship violence victimization. Family Relations, 1986, 35, 383–388.
Malamuth, N. M. Predictors of naturalistic sexual aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986, 50, 953–962.
Muehlenhard, C. L., & Cook, S. W. Men's self-reports of unwanted sexual activity. Journal of Sex Research, 1988, 24, 58–72.
Muehlenhard, C. L., & Linton, M. A. Date rape and sexual aggression in dating situations: Incidence and risk factors. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1987, 34, 186–196.
Peplau, L., Rubin, Z., & Hill, C. Sexual intimacy in dating relationships. Journal of Social Issues, 1977, 33, 86–109.
Rapaport, K., & Burkhart, B. R.. Personality and attitudinal characteristics of sexual coercive college males. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1984, 93, 216–221.
Reiss, J. L., Anderson, R. E., & Sponaugle, G. C. A multivariate model of the determinants of extramarital sexual permissiveness. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1980, 42, 395–411.
Russell, D. E. H. Sexual exploitation: Rape, child sexual abuse, and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1984.
Sarrel, P. M., & Masters, W. H. Sexual molestation of men by women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1982, 11, 117–131.
Shapiro, J., & Shapiro, D. H. A “control” model of psychological health: Relation to “traditional” and “liberated” sex-role stereotypes. Sex rules, 1985, 12, 530–548.
Sigelman, C. K., Berry, C. J., & Wiles, K. A. Violence in college students' dating relationships. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1984, 5, 530–548.
Singh, B. K. Trends in attitudes toward premarital sexual relations. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1980, 42, 387–393.
Snow, L., & Parsons, J. L. Sex role orientation and female sexual functioning. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1983, 8, 133–142.
Struckman-Johnson, C. Forced sex on dates: It happens to men too. Journal of Sex Research, 1988, 24, 234–241.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors wish to thank Ellen Reichman who assisted with the data collection and Phil Wirtz, Lynn Offermann, Bob Hays, and Beverly Harris for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Poppen, P.J., Segal, N.J. The influence of sex and sex role orientation on sexual coercion. Sex Roles 19, 689–701 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288985
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288985