Perceptions of affirmative sexual consent
Date
2022
Authors
Upadhyay, Krusha
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Thesis
Citation
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Abstract
Despite the growing literature on sexual consent among college students, most of the research has focused on female victims, indicating a significant need for more research focusing on consent and victim blame with male victims. The current study investigated whether male victims are blamed for sexual assault where the perpetrator is a female, using traditional sexual script theory as a framework. The study investigated whether participants could clearly differentiate between consent and non-consent when ambiguous nonverbal cues were presented. Participants (n = 167) were randomly assigned to one of three vignettes in a between-subjects experimental design: (1) a neutral control condition with no clear cues, (2) implicit nonverbal non-consenting cues, and (3) explicit nonverbal non-consenting cues. Participants were then polled on attitudes towards the sexual script scale, victim blame, and consent. Overall, the findings indicated that male participants placed more blame on victims and rated all scenarios (regardless of implicit or explicit cues) as more consensual than female participants. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest that participants can identify non-consent, if any sort of cues (implicit or explicit) are presented. Nonetheless, participants believe that explicit cues, rather than implicit cues, would be the most effective method of communicating non- consent. These findings suggest that school programs may benefit from incorporating ambiguous ways consent/non-consent can be communicated. Educating students at a young age regarding communication via various non-verbal cues could minimise the chances of miscommunication and potentially sexual assault. Furthermore, more research, public awareness, and media attention are required to raise awareness about female-perpetrated sexual assault on males. Keywords: Sexual consent, victim blame, sexual script theory, implicit and explicit non- verbal cues.
School/Discipline
School of Psychology
Dissertation Note
Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2022
Provenance
This electronic version is made publicly available by the University of Adelaide in accordance with its open access policy for student theses.
Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. This thesis may incorporate third party material which has been used by the author pursuant to Fair Dealing exceptions. If you are the author of this thesis and do not wish it to be made publicly available, or you are the owner of any included third party copyright material you wish to be removed from this electronic version, please complete the take down form located at: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/legals
Description
This item is only available electronically.