Mags and Abs: Media Consumption and Bodily Concerns in Men

Media messages directed toward men increasingly promote the hypermuscular male body, an ideal impossible for most men to achieve. In this study we investigated the association between media consumption and bodily concerns in a sample of 89 college men. Reading male-directed magazines was associated with concerns about muscularity and general fitness, beauty product use, and dietary supplement use to build muscle. Low self-esteem was linked to weight concerns. Men's media exposure was also associated with their standards for women's bodies: the more male-directed magazines a man read and the more movies he saw, the more he valued thinness in women.     

Normative perceptions in relation to substance use and HIV-risky sexual behaviors of college students

In this study, 410 college students completed a survey assessing their personal substance use patterns and sexual behavior and their perceptions of other students' substance use and sexual behavior. Two parallel sets of questions were presented to reflect the two contextual conditions of being drunk or high versus being not drunk or high. Results indicated that number of recent sexual partners and normative perceptions of HIV-risky sexual behavior were the strongest predictors of personal HIV-risky behavior when not drunk or high. HIV-risky behavior when drunk or high was predicted by personal substance use as well as by number of recent partners and normative perceptions of peer sexual behavior. These findings suggest that HIV-prevention programs for college students should aim to correct overinflated perceptions of other students' high-risk sexual behavior.     

ACCEPTANCE AND EXPECTATION OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

This study examines college students' acceptance and expectations of sexual aggression in common dating situations. Five hundred and forty-six college students completed a measure of rape acceptance beliefs to explore the "campus climate" regarding sexual assault. Results suggest that consensus on definitions of unacceptable behavior in dating situations is emerging: young college men and women overwhelmingly rejected the use of violent and coercive behavior. A surprisingly high number, however, expected this type of behavior in a variety of situations, for example, on dates involving the use of drugs or alcohol. Women's expectations of sexual aggression generally surpassed men's. Yet, in several situations, participants, regardless of their gender, expected the use of verbal threats of harm in order to obtain intercourse. Students expected the use of force to obtain sexual intercourse the least. Results are discussed in relation to the reporting behavior of sexual assault victims and the development of primary prevention techniques.     

Why do some men misperceive women's sexual intentions more frequently than others do? An application of the confluence model

Although many researchers have documented men's tendency to misperceive women's friendliness as a sign of sexual interest, few have examined individual differences in men's attitudes and past experiences that might predict their likelihood of making these types of misjudgments. We applied an expanded version of Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, and Tanaka's (1991) Confluence model to predict frequency of misperception of women's sexual intent with a sample of 356 male college students. Using structural equation modeling, hostile masculinity, impersonal sex, and drinking in dating and sexual situations predicted men's frequency of misperception. Furthermore, the more risk factors men possessed, the more times they misperceived women's sexual intentions. Suggestions are made for theory development and future research incorporating situational as well as personality measures in longitudinal studies.     

College Men, Their Magazines, and Sex

Relations between reading Lad magazines and pornographic magazines and the beliefs and attitudes that are consistent with their content were explored in two independent surveys of college undergraduate men (n?=?91 and 68, respectively). The impact of reading such magazines on men’s sexual self-schema was also examined. The results indicated a relationship between reading Lad magazines and endorsement of permissive sexual attitudes independent of actual sexual behavior. Reading Lad magazines was also associated with expectations of greater sexual variety and a more aggressive sexual self-schema. Reading pornographic magazines was found to be associated with permissive attitudes. Neither reading pornographic magazines nor reading lad magazines was related to aggressive attitudes.     

Parent-child sexual discussion: perceived communicator style and subsequent behavior

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived parental sexual communicator style and adolescent sexual behavior and information accuracy. Two hundred thirty-four college students provided data on their perceptions of parental sexual communicator style as well as self-reports of sexual behavior and knowledge across three time frames (junior high school, high school, and college). Significant relationships were found between perceived parental sexual communicator styles and sexual activity, contraceptive use, and sexual knowledge accuracy. In addition, significant differences were found between males and females on their sexual knowledge accuracy (females reported a higher level of sexual knowledge than did males). The findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research in the area of parent-adolescent sexual communication are offered.     

Expectations regarding acquaintance sexual aggression among sorority and fraternity members

Among women, college is a high risk period for sexual assault by male acquaintances. Differences in expectations held by men and women may contribute to misinterpretation of social cues and subsequent sexual aggression and may impair women's ability to respond effectively. This paper presents findings from a predominantly Caucasian sample (85.9%) of college sorority (n = 66) and fraternity (n = 34) members regarding the social context within which they interact and their expectations regarding perpetration of and response to sexual aggression. Results showed differences in men's and women's expectations and responses, and in particular highlighted how men's expectations were related to women's resistance of unwanted sex. Understanding the cognitive processes that men and women draw upon in social interactions can be useful for developing sexual aggression prevention and resistance interventions.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, March 1995, San Diego. The authors would like to thank Robert D. Abbott, Kelly Cue, and Virginia Senechal for their input on earlier versions of this paper.This project was jointly supported by the University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, School of Social Work, and Addictive Behaviors Research Center. It was also supported in part by grants from NIAAA (AA05591 and AA07271) and NIMH (MH53702).     

Men's reactions to hypothetical female sexual advances: A beauty bias in response to sexual coercion

The study investigated 277 college men's reactions to a vignette in which they were to imagine receiving an uninvited sexual advance from a casual female acquaintance. Subjects were predominantly middle-class Caucasian students. The vignette varied in the degree of coercion used (low — touch, moderate — push, high — threat, and very high — weapon). For each coercion level, the initiator was described as either very attractive or very unattractive. Subjects rated acceptability of the act, feelings of being pleased, violated, and negatively affected by the incident, and indicated if they would consent to further sexual activity. Results showed that men had significantly more negative reactions to advances that employed high and very high levels of force as compared to low and moderate levels. A beauty bias was found in that men had more positive (or less negative) reactions to the actions of an attractive vs. an unattractive initiator. Men had generally positive reactions to the sexual advance of an attractive woman who used low or moderate levels of coercion. Reactions to all other vignette situations were predominantly negative. As a model for future research, it is proposed that male and female reactions to sexual coercion can be predicted by levels of violation of sexual standards, force used, initiator sexual desirability, and romantic relationship with the initiator.     

The Influence of Peer Interactions on Sexually Oriented Joke Telling

Although the negative consequences and prevalence rates of sexual imposition are widely known through self-report surveys, currently there are few laboratory paradigms to examine the determinants of this type of behavior, especially peer sexual harassment. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of two types of peer interactions on peer sexual harassment among college students using a laboratory paradigm of sexually oriented joke telling as an analogue of sexual harassment. Results from two different experiments revealed an effect of type of peer interaction on sexually oriented joke telling. In Experiment 1, male college students, who were exposed to a male peer who modeled sexually harassing behavior, subsequently told significantly more sexually oriented jokes to an unknown female peer than did male students exposed to a male peer who modeled nonsexually harassing behavior. In Experiment 2, male college students, who were exposed to a male peer who was seemingly sexist in his interaction with them, subsequently told significantly more sexually oriented jokes to an unknown female peer than did male students exposed to a male peer who was seemingly nonsexist in his interactions with them. These results suggest that peer interactions may serve as a disinhibiting situational factor of sexually harassing behaviors perpetrated by male college students on female peers. The results also provide further validity for the use of a laboratory paradigm for the study of peer sexual harassment.     

College students' judgments regarding sexual aggression during a date

Effects of level of resistance and type of sexual behavior on judgments regarding sexual aggression on a date were studied. Participants were 138 female and 57 male college students who read one of six vignettes (three levels of resistance × two types of sexual behavior) describing a date in which unwanted sexual behavior occurred. Gender-neutral names (Chris and Pat) were used in the vignettes, and sex of aggressor and victim was not specified. Participants completed identical scales describing degree of disapproval of the aggressor's behavior from three different perspectives: their own viewpoint (Participant Rating), the victim's viewpoint (Victim Rating), and the aggressor's viewpoint (Aggressor Rating). Both Participant and Victim Ratings showed significant differences between levels of resistance, and significant but smaller differences due to participant gender. Participant ratings showed a significant but small difference between types of sexual behavior. The aggressor's overall behavior was labeled as date/acquaintance rape by 52.9% of participants for the vignette involving physical resistance and intercourse.     

Coitally active university students: sexual behaviors, concerns, and challenges

The past fifteen years, in particular, have seen a major increase in the extent to which both adolescents and young adults are engaging in sexual intercourse. While several studies call attention to the increasing incidence among college/university students, the concomitant shifts in the sociopsychological realms of sexuality are also important dimensions which impact upon sexual concerns of youth. Hence, the purposes of this study are to examine the behaviors, attitudes, and concerns of students who have engaged in coitus, as well as any changes they seek in their sex lives. The sample consisted of 123 never-married male and 205 never-married female undergraduate students from a state university. The data were obtained by utilizing an anonymous questionnaire administered to volunteers during regular university classes. Among the coitally active, 67.4% of males were psychologically satisfied after their first sexual experience, but only 28.3% of females. In contrast, 80.9% of males and 28.3% of females reported current psychological satisfaction with their sexual experiences. Significant differences between genders focused on male dissatisfaction with infrequent opportunities for sexual intercourse, lack of variety of sex partners, and insufficient oral-genital stimulation, whereas females expressed concerns relating to lack of stimulation to their breasts, painful sexual intercourse, lack of orgasm during sexual intercourse, and feelings of guilt and fear. An increasing awareness of current sexual behaviors, attitudes, and concerns of university students can help family life educators to meet student needs as they react to changes in interpersonal relationships, families, and society.     

A COMPARISON OF MALE AND FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES OF SEXUAL COERCION

Research comparing men's and women's experiences of sexual coercion has typically assessed differences in prevalence rates and risk. We extended this line of research by comparing the contexts of sexual coercion and reactions to sexually coercive experiences in an attempt to understand the meanings that men and women attribute to these events. Participants were 433 randomly selected college students who responded to an anonymous survey. In line with past research, more men than women reported being sexually coercive, and more women than men reported being sexually coerced in the preceding year. There was a great degree of correspondence between men's and women's reports of the contexts within which sexual coercion occurred. According to their reports, sexual coercion occurred primarily within the heterosexual dating context. Compared to men, however, women reported more negative reactions and stronger resistance to the use of sexual coercion. These findings emphasize how comparisons of prevalence rates alone may obscure important differences in the phenomenology of sexually coercive incidents for men and women. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for the development of education and prevention programs and the need to reevaluate current approaches to interpreting prevalence reports.     

Gender, Internet use, and sexual behavior orientation among young Nigerians.

This study examined the influence of gender and Internet use on the sexual behavior orientation of young adults in Nigeria. Using an ex-post-facto design, data were collected from a total of 231 participants. Results of the hierarchical regression model provided support for the influence of gender and Internet use on sexual behavior orientation among young Nigerians. Further, results also revealed an interaction effect; as the use of the Internet increased, male participants reported a greater extent of risky sexual behavior orientation than their female counterparts. The findings were explained in the context of the theoretical foundations of the study, while practical implications for combating youths' risky sexual behavior orientation were highlighted.     

Gender-role's attitude, perceived similarity, and sexual prejudice against gay men

Two hundred and twenty-six heterosexual participants (115 women and 111 men) were asked to indicate their attitude toward gender-roles, their perceived similarities with gay men, and their attitude toward gay men (i.e., sexual prejudice). As expected, male participants showed more sexual prejudice than female participants, and perceived dissimilarities were related to a greater sexual prejudice. Support for gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants, but not for female participants. More interestingly, the three-way interaction suggested that perceived similarities moderated the link between gender-roles and sexual prejudice among heterosexual men, but not among heterosexual women. Attitude in favor of traditional gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants who perceived gay men as different, but not for those who perceived gay men as similar. These findings are discussed in terms of the defensive function of men's attitude toward homosexuality as a result of threat to masculinity.     

Predicting male and female contraceptive behavior: a discriminant analysis of groups high, moderate, and low in contraceptive effectiveness

An exploratory, multivariate study was carried out to assess (a) whether three contraceptive-effectiveness groups (high, moderate, and low) could be differentiated on the basis of variables that have been theoretically and empirically associated with contraceptive behavior and (b) whether an identified set of discriminating variables could accurately classify sexually active college students into these groups. Three hundred sixty-five sexually active, never-married college students (211 males and 154 females) completed instruments measuring variables related to contraception. Four separate discriminant analyses were performed, one for each sex for both their initial sexual encounter and their current sexual interactions. Discrimination and classification of the three contraceptive groups for both males' and females' initial sexual experience was not very successful. Moderate discrimination was achieved for the female current sexual activity subsample and good discrimination and classification was made for the currently sexually active male subsample. The results are discussed in terms of the implications of the findings for understanding contraceptive behavior of males and females, problems with the dependent variable of contraceptive use, and the mounting evidence that emotional orientation to sexuality influences contraceptive behavior.     

Less is more: The effects of sexual experience on judgments of men's and women's personality characteristics and relationship desirability

One method available to researchers for examining sexual attitudes is to solicit evaluations of others based on information about sexual experience. Differences in expectations about appropriate sexual behavior of men and women measure the so-called sexual double standard. To test the conditions under which a sexual double standard is endorsed, 110 male and 146 female college students (94% white, 3% black, 3% all other ethnicities) responded to vignettes depicting either a male or female target as having a low or high number of past sexual partners within committed or noncommitted relationships. In general, little support for the endorsement of a sexual double standard was found. However, participants consistently made differential judgments on the basis of sexual experience: Targets described as having more permissive sexual histories received more negative evaluations than did those described as having less permissive sexual histories. Results are discussed in terms of media exploitation of sexual information and support for a relational orientation toward sexual experience.The assistance of Nor Ostrowski, Julie Hale, and Kurt Trappenberg is greatly appreciated. I am also grateful for the funding provided by the Department of Psychology to conduct this study.     

Pluralistic Ignorance and Health Risk Behaviors: Do College Students Misperceive Social Approval for Risky Behaviors on Campus and in Media?

Pluralistic ignorance is a psychological state in which individuals believe that their own beliefs and feelings differ from others' in a group despite the fact that they all behave similarly (Miller & McFarland, 1991). For example, college students reported that they were less comfortable with campus drinking than were other students on their campus (Prentice & Miller, 1993). We replicated this finding and investigated whether college students would show this pluralistic ignorance effect for other health-related risk behaviors (smoking, sexual behavior, and illegal drug use). In addition, we tested whether media portrayals of these behaviors also might result in pluralistic ignorance. The results show that a significant effect of pluralistic ignorance occurred for all 4 health-related risk behaviors, both in ratings of campus behaviors and in ratings of media portrayals of these behaviors. Participants indicated that other students on their campus would have higher comfort ratings with campus patterns of smoking, drinking, illegal drug use, and sexual behaviors than their own comfort ratings. Participants also indicated that other students would have higher comfort ratings with the same 4 behaviors as they are portrayed in the media than their own comfort ratings.     

Students' knowledge of AIDS and sexual risk behavior.

College students appear to be knowledgeable of the methods of transmission and risks of the AIDS virus. However, the reality of susceptibility to infection does not seem to have altered their conduct. In a study of 19 heterosexual college students, knowledge and intention do not appear to be good predictors of sexual behavior. Young people appear to continue high-risk sexual behavior even while knowledgeable of the risks of AIDS.