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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Nov 4.
Published in final edited form as: Violence Against Women. 2013 Jul;19(7):903–923. doi: 10.1177/1077801213498216

College Men’s and Women’s Respective Perceptions of Risk to Perpetrate or Experience Sexual Assault: The Role of Alcohol Use and Expectancies

Amy S Untied 1, Lindsay M Orchowski 2, Vanessa Lazar 2
PMCID: PMC4632839  NIHMSID: NIHMS732671  PMID: 23955932

Abstract

The present study examines alcohol use, expectancies (i.e., beliefs about the outcomes of alcohol consumption), and college men’s (n = 127) and women’s (n = 191) respective perceptions of risk to perpetrate/experience sexual violence. Interactions between alcohol consumption and expectancies were examined. Alcohol expectancies regarding assertiveness increased women’s perceived risk for sexual intercourse via alcohol/drugs. Among women reporting high alcohol use, global expectancies were positively associated with perceived risk for sexual intercourse via alcohol/drugs. Furthermore, among women reporting low alcohol use, expectancies regarding assertiveness were positively associated with perceived risk for coerced sexual contact. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: alcohol, alcohol expectancies, rape, risk perception, sexual assault

Introduction

Heavy episodic drinking (Grucza, Norberg, & Bierut, 2009) and sexual assault (Lawyer, Resnick, Bakanic, Burkett, & Kilpatrick, 2010) are significant and co-occurring problems on college campuses. Over a relatively short 3-month time period, 17.4% of college men perpetrate some form of sexual aggression (Loh, Gidycz, Lobo, & Luthra, 2005) and 15% of college women experience some form of sexual victimization (Gidycz, Orchowski, King, & Rich, 2008). Furthermore, alcohol consumption by either the victim or the perpetrator is involved in above 50% of sexual assaults (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006).

The association between alcohol use and men’s perpetration of sexual aggression is complex (Abbey, 2008). Compared with nonsexually aggressive men, sexually aggressive men are more likely to report greater daily alcohol use (Borowsky, Hogan, & Ireland, 1997) and heavy drinking (Neal & Fromme, 2007). Alcohol may increase risk for sexually aggressive behavior by reducing men’s tension (Sayette, 1993), decreasing men’s attention to inhibitory cues (Steele & Josephs, 1990), and narrowing men’s attention to the short-term rewards of aggression (Taylor & Chermack, 1993). Alcohol use also increases the likelihood that men misinterpret women’s friendliness as sexual interest (Jacques-Tiura, Abbey, Parkhill, & Zawacki, 2007). Men may also believe that intoxication provides an excuse for aggressive behavior (George & Marlatt, 1986).

Alcohol also demonstrates complex associations with women’s risk for sexual victimization (Norris, 2008). Compared with women without such a history, women with a history of sexual victimization report greater alcohol use (Benson, Gohm, & Gross, 2007) and heavy drinking (Mohler-Kuo, Dowdall, Koss, & Wechsler, 2004). Risk for victimization also increases on days when women report heavy drinking (Parks & Fals-Stewart, 2004). Alcohol use may increase risk for victimization by narrowing women’s attention to salient social cues, as opposed to the subtle signs that a situation is dangerous (Davis, Stoner, Norris, George, & Masters, 2009). When drinking, women may be less able to synthesize information (Lannutti & Monahan, 2004), make self-protective decisions (Abbey, Saenz, & Buck, 2005; Davis, Hendershot, George, Norris, & Heiman, 2007), and respond quickly to threats (Stoner, George, Peters, & Norris, 2007). In addition, women who consume alcohol may be perceived as open to sexual advances (Norris & Cubbins, 1992) and targeted for an attack (Parks & Zetes-Zanatta, 1999). Intoxicated women may also be less able to fight back (Parks, Miller, Collins, & Zetes-Zanatta, 1998).

Beliefs about the anticipated positive and negative outcomes of alcohol consumption are referred to as alcohol expectancies (Cooper, 1994). Compared with nonvictims, sexually victimized women are more likely to indicate that alcohol use will have a relaxing effect (Corbin, Bernat, Calhoun, McNair, & Seals, 2001), enhance their sexuality (Benson et al., 2007; Testa & Dermen, 1999), and improve social situations (Marx, Nichols-Anderson, Messman-Moore, Miranda, & Porter, 2000). Individuals who believe alcohol enhances sexuality may use alcohol to pursue sexual partnerships (Kotchick, Shaffer, Forehand, & Miller, 2001), and tend to perceive fewer negative consequences associated with risky behavior when drinking (Fromme, D’Amico, & Katz, 1999). It is therefore plausible that expectancies indirectly influence risk for sexual violence by motivating excessive alcohol use and decreasing the anticipation of negative consequences when drinking (Norris, 2008).

Alcohol expectancies may facilitate sexual aggression among men who expect to feel more sexual or aggressive when drinking (George & Stoner, 2000). Specifically, if men expect to feel sexual or aggressive when intoxicated, they may attribute sexually aggressive actions to the effects of intoxication instead of taking responsibility for the behavior (George & Marlatt, 1986). In fact, compared with nonsexually aggressive men, sexually aggressive men expect that alcohol use will have a stronger global positive effect (Aromaki & Lindman, 2001; Menard, Hall, Phung, Ghebrial, & Martin, 2003). Sexually aggressive men are also more likely than nonsexually aggressive men to report that alcohol use will enhance their sexuality (McMurran & Bellfield, 2003; Palmer, McMahon, Rounsaville & Ball, 2010; Wilson, Calhoun, & McNair, 2002). Furthermore, research conducted within the laboratory suggests that compared with men who do not expect to consume alcohol, men who expect to consume alcohol report more interest in sexual violence (George & Marlatt, 1986), indicate more sexual arousal in response to violent media (Briddell et al., 1978), and display longer delays in recognizing that the perpetrator of a hypothetical date rape should refrain from further advances (Marx, Gross, & Juergens, 1997).

Perceived Risk for Sexual Aggression and Sexual Victimization

Studies of college students indicate that many men and women recognize they are at some risk to perpetrate or experience sexual violence, respectively (Abbey, McAuslan, & Ross, 1998; Norris, Nurius, & Graham, 1999). Understanding the characteristics of men and women who perceive themselves at risk to perpetrate or experience sexual violence can inform the development of prevention efforts. Several studies examining men’s perceived likelihood to perpetrate sexual aggression have been conducted in laboratory settings, in which men indicate their propensity for violence in the context of an alcohol administration design (Davis, 2010; Norris, George, Davis, Martell, & Leonesio, 1999). Men’s perceived likelihood to perpetrate has also been operationalized as men’s likelihood to behave in a manner similar to the perpetrator in a sexually explicit and violent video (Malamuth & Check, 1981). In one lab study, men viewed sexually explicit and violent media, and expectancies and consumption of alcohol acted jointly to increase men’s perceived likelihood to perpetrate sexual aggression (Norris, Davis, George, Martell, & Heiman, 2002). Self-report measures such as the Likelihood to Rape Index (Malamuth, 1988) or the Likelihood to Force Index (Malamuth, 1988) have also been utilized to assess men’s likelihood to perpetrate; however, because these measures use the word rape in the question prompt and stipulate that the respondent will not be punished for sexually aggressive behavior, they may result in biased reporting (Kolivas & Gross, 2007).

We are aware of one study to date that has assessed men’s likelihood to perpetrate outside of a laboratory setting using behaviorally oriented assessments (Gidycz, Warkentin, Orchowski, & Edwards, 2011). Data indicated that college men who acknowledged a high likelihood to perpetrate on behaviorally oriented assessments later engaged in sexual aggression over a relatively short interim (Gidycz, Warkentin, et al., 2011). These data suggest that behaviorally oriented assessments of men’s perceived likelihood to perpetrate may be an ecologically valid and efficient way to identify men who believe they are at risk to engage in sexual aggression. Of note, researchers have yet to examine what factors contribute to men’s intentions to perpetrate.

Women’s perceptions of vulnerability to sexual victimization have been assessed through focus groups, surveys, and in response to vignettes (see Gidycz, McNamara, & Edwards, 2006, for a review). There is some evidence that women’s appraisals of vulnerability are associated with women’s likelihood of a future assault (A. L. Brown, Messman-Moore, Miller, & Stasser, 2005). Women with a history of sexual victimization report higher perceived risk to experience a subsequent assault compared with women with no such history (Kimmerling, Alvarez, Pavao, Kaminski, & Baumrind, 2007). However, college women generally perceive themselves to be at lower risk for sexual victimization compared with their peers (Cue, George, & Norris, 1996; Hickman & Muehlenhard, 1997). Nurius (2000) suggests that a key task to understanding perceptions of risk for sexual victimization lies in understanding the social and cognitive factors that influence behavior in risky situations.

Drawing from the aforementioned research, the present study sought to identify relationships between alcohol use, alcohol expectancies, and men and women’s respective perceived risk to perpetrate or experience various forms of sexual assault using behaviorally oriented questionnaires. The current study advances research is several ways. First, studies examining men’s and women’s respective perceived risk to perpetrate or experience sexual assault generally do not distinguish between various forms of violence. However, college men tend to indicate a greater likelihood to use coercion to perpetrate sexual aggression as opposed to force (Warkentin & Gidycz, 2007). As such, the present study examined perceived risk to perpetrate or experience several forms of sexual assault, including sexual contact and sexual intercourse as a result of administration of substances, coercion, authority or force. Second, although prior studies examining the association between alcohol expectancies and sexual coercion have grouped men and women together as perpetrators and/or victims of violence (i.e., Palmer et al., 2010), we agree with Koss et al. (2007) that men’s and women’s experiences as a perpetrator or victim of sexual violence vary along a number of dimensions. Recognizing that the vast majority of sexual violence is perpetrated by men against women (Craven, 1997), we examined factors associated with men’s perceived risk to perpetrate sexual aggression and women’s perceived risk to experience victimization. Finally, the current study is the first study to examine the role of alcohol use and expectancies as correlates of perceived risk to perpetrate or experience various forms of sexual assault using behaviorally based questionnaires. It was hypothesized that expectancies would demonstrate unique associations with perceptions of risk for sexual victimization among women (Hypothesis 1) and sexual aggression among men (Hypothesis 2) after accounting for participants’ respective history of sexual victimization or sexual aggression.

Method

Participants

Participants included 129 undergraduate men and 192 undergraduate women at a medium-sized Midwestern university. Ninety-two percent of the participants were in their 1st or 2nd year of college (n = 270). The majority of participants self-identified as Caucasian (93.6%, n = 276), 3.7% as African American (n = 11), 1.7% as Asian/Pacific Islander (n = 5), 0.3% as American Indian/Alaska Native (n = 1), and 0.7% selected “other” (n = 2) as their race.

Measures

Demographics

Participants indicated their class year and race on a questionnaire.

Alcohol use

Participants’ average weekly alcohol use was assessed with the Drinking and Drug Habits Questionnaire (Collins, Parks, & Marlatt, 1985). Participants indicated the average number of drinks consumed on each day of the week. Responses were summed to create a total number of drinks per week. This scale is correlated with a daily self-report timeline of drinking (r = .86; Collins, Koutsky, Morsheimer, & MacLean, 2001). Cronbach’s alpha was .90.

Alcohol expectancies

Expectations regarding alcohol consumption were assessed with the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (S. A. Brown, Christiansen, & Goldman, 1987). Participants indicated whether they “agree” or “disagree” with 120 statements such as, “Alcohol makes me feel closer to people.” The six subscales include Global Positive Changes, Sexual Enhancement, Physical and Social Pleasure, Social Assertiveness, Relaxation and Tension Reduction, as well as Arousal and Aggression. For the subscales, internal consistency ranges from .72 to .92 (S. A. Brown et al., 1987). In this sample, Cronbach’s alpha for the subscales ranged from .70 to .89.

Sexual violence

Men’s perpetration of sexual aggression from the age of 14 to the time of the study and women’s experience of sexual victimization from the age of 14 to the time of the study were assessed with separate gender-specific versions of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES; Koss & Oros, 1982). Participants responded “yes” or “no” to a series of 10 sexually explicit descriptions of a range of aggressive/unwanted sexual behaviors. Men were identified as having a history of sexual aggression and women were identified as having a history of sexual victimization if they indicated “yes” to any of the items. The SES demonstrates good reliability (Koss & Gidycz, 1985) and is commonly utilized to identify sexual violence.

Perceived risk

Men completed a questionnaire regarding perceived likelihood to perpetrate various forms of sexual aggression over the next 3 months and women completed a questionnaire regarding perceived risk to experience various forms of sexual victimization over the next 3 months. Men and women rated their respective perceived risk for 7 of the 10 items listed on the SES (Koss & Gidycz, 1985) along a scale of 0% to 100% likely, within 10% intervals (i.e., 0%, 1%-10%, 11%-20%, etc.). To reduce redundancy in the questionnaire, two items on the SES assessing attempted sexual assault were not included, and the one item assessing sexual acts was not included. This series of questions has been utilized to survey perceived risk to perpetrate among college men (Gidycz, Warkentin, et al., 2011) and perceived risk for sexual victimization among college women (Orchowski, Creech, Reddi, Capezza, & Ratcliff, 2012). A square root transformation was applied to each perceived risk item to normalize the data. To stabilize the unstandardized betas with the analyses, each transformed risk estimate was multiplied by 100. Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Men’s Perceived Likelihood to Perpetrate (n = 127) and Women’s Perceived Risk for Victimization (n = 191).

0% 1%-10% 11%-20% 21%-30% 31%-40% 41%-50% 51%-60% 61%-70% 71%-80% 81%-90% 91%-00%
Use of arguments or pressure to obtain/experience sexual contact
 Men
  94 18 5 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 4
  74.0% 14.2% 3.9% 2.4% 0% 0.8% 0.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.8% 3.1%
 Women
  74 49 13 11 10 5 6 3 6 6 8
  38.7% 25.7% 6.8% 5.8% 5.2% 2.6% 3.1% 1.6% 3.1% 3.1% 4.2%
Use of authority to obtain/experience sexual contact
 Men
  122 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  96.1% 2.4% 0.8% 0.8% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
 Women
  156 22 8 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 1
  81.2% 11.5% 4.2% 0.5% 0% 1.0% 1.0% 0% 0% 0% 0.5%
Use of force to obtain/experience sexual contact
 Men
  127 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
 Women
  124 51 4 3 6 0 2 0 0 1 0
  64.9% 26.7% 2.1% 1.6% 3.1% 0% 1.0% 0% 0% 0.5% 0%
Use of arguments to obtain/experience sexual intercourse
 Men
  103 14 4 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
  81.1% 11.0% 3.1% 3.1% 0% 0% 0.8% 0% 0% 0% 0.8%
 Women
  118 41 8 6 3 5 3 3 0 2 3
  61.8% 20.9% 4.2% 3.1% 1.6% 2.6% 1.6% 1.6% 0% 1.0% 1.6%
Use of authority to obtain/experience sexual intercourse
 Men
  125 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  98.4% 1.6% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
 Women
  159 25 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
  83.2% 13.1% 2.6% 0.5% 0% 0% 0.5% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Use of force to obtain/experience sexual intercourse
 Men
  127 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
 Women
  135 42 6 6 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
  70.7% 22.0% 3.1% 3.1% 0% 0% 0.5% 0% 0% 0.5% 0%
Administration of alcohol or drugs obtain/experience sexual intercourse
 Men
  117 4 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
  92.1% 3.1% 1.6% 0.8% 0.8% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1.6%
 Women
  111 45 10 5 6 4 4 3 0 2 1
  58.1% 23.6% 5.2% 2.6% 3.1% 2.1% 2.1% 1.6% 0% 1.0% 0.5%
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Procedure

The study was advertised as an examination of men’s and women’s social and dating experiences. Participants were recruited through a web-based enrollment system. Participants received credit toward their Introductory Psychology course and all procedures were approved by the local institutional review board. In separate rooms, a trained male research assistant administered the questionnaires to male students and a trained female research assistant administered the questionnaires to female students. Three cases were eliminated prior to analyses due to missing data, resulting in a sample of 127 men and 191 women.

Results

Data Preparation and Analysis

A series of hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the combined relationship between alcohol use, alcohol expectancies, the interaction between alcohol use and expectancies, and perceived risk for experiencing or perpetrating sexual assault. A separate analysis was conducted to examine predictors of women’s perceived risk for each of the seven forms of sexual victimization. So few men reported any perceived likelihood to perpetrate sexual contact or intercourse via force or authority that analyses examining these dependent variables were precluded. Women’s history of sexual victimization and men’s history of sexual aggression (0 = no history; 1 = history) were entered as dichotomous variables. The model consisted of the following independent variables: number of drinks per week; global positive alcohol expectancies; and alcohol expectancies regarding sexuality, relaxation, assertiveness, social/physical enhancement, and aggression, as well as six interaction terms between alcohol use and each alcohol expectancy. Prior to analyses, all continuous independent variables were centered. Independent variables were centered separately for men and women. Interaction terms were created using the centered variables. Simple slope analysis was utilized to examine significant interactions as recommended by Aiken and West (1991). Correlations between predictor variables are presented in Table 2. Assessments for problems due to multicolinearity were performed as a result of associations between independent variables. All variance inflation factors (VIF) fell within normal limits (Belsley, Kuh, & Welsch, 1980).

Table 2.

Correlations Between Predictor Variables Among Men (n = 127) and Women (n = 191).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. History of Perpetration/Victimization — .06 .27* .25* .07 .17 .21 .16
2. Alcohol Use .16 — .35* .28* .41* .29* .35* .53*
3. Expectancies: Sexual Enhancement .03 .13 — .65* .53* .52* .76* .51*
4. Expectancies: Aggression .11 .29* .56* — .57* .67* .76* .52*
5. Expectancies: Relaxation .14 .37* .49* .59* — .66* .69* .70*
6. Expectancies: Social Assertiveness .05 .36* .46* .61* .55* — .68* .62*
7. Expectancies: Global Positive .14 .32* .62* .63* .74* .64* — .61*
8. Expectancies: Social/Physical Enhancement .13 .39* .43* .44* .64* .59* .62* —
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Note. Correlations among women listed along the lower diagonal and correlations among men listed along the top diagonal.

*

p < .00625.

Rates of Sexual Victimization, Sexual Aggression, and Perceived Risk

In this sample, 45.5% (n = 87) of women reported a history of sexual victimization and 12.6% (n = 16) of men reported a history of sexual aggression. More specifically, 37.1% (n = 71) of women reported a history of unwanted sexual contact, attempted rape or sexual coercion, and 8.4% (n = 16) reported a rape experience. Furthermore, 11.0% (n = 14) of men reported a history of sexually aggressive contact, attempted rape or coercion, and 1.6% (n = 2) reported perpetrating rape. Overall, 66.5% (n = 127) of women indicated some risk for experiencing sexual victimization and 33.1% (n = 42) of men indicated some risk of perpetrating.

Alcohol Use, Expectancies, and Women’s Perceived Risk for Sexual Victimization

The first multiple regression analysis suggested that the model predicted women’s perceived risk to experience coerced sexual contact, F(14, 176) = 4.29, p < .001 (see Table 3). History of sexual victimization was associated with an increased perceived risk to experience this form of victimization, t(176) = 4.96, p <.001. A two-way interaction was evidenced between women’s alcohol use and expectancies regarding assertiveness when drinking, t(176) = −2.37, p < .05. The simple slope for alcohol expectancies regarding assertiveness was significant at low levels of alcohol use, t(176) = 2.20, p < .05, but not at high levels of alcohol use (see Figure 1).

Table 3.

Predicting Women’s Perceived Risk to Experience Unwanted Sexual Contact (n = 191).

Via force
 Via authority
 Via coercion
Variable B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β
Prior Victimization 16.87 5.24 .23** 5.86 4.96 .09 48.23 9.72 .33***
Exp: Global Positivea −0.28 0.89 −0.04 0.51 0.84 .83 3.14 1.65 .23
Exp: Sexualb 0.64 1.80 .04 −0.72 1.70 −.04 −1.08 3.33 −.03
Exp: S/P En.c 0.62 2.08 .03 0.56 1.97 .03 −1.51 3.86 −.04
Exp: S-Assertd 2.01 1.28 .17 1.33 1.21 .12 1.55 2.37 .07
Exp: Relaxatione 0.66 1.59 .05 −1.16 1.51 −.09 −0.57 2.95 −.02
Exp: Aggressionf −2.12 1.69 −.13 −0.60 1.60 −.04 −1.12 3.13 −.04
Weekly Alcohol Use 0.33 0.35 .08 0.36 0.34 .09 1.19 0.66 .14
Alc × Exp: S-Assertg −0.27 0.16 −.21 0.01 0.15 .01 −0.72 0.30 −.27*
Alc × Exp: S/P En.h 0.29 0.23 .15 −0.03 0.22 −.01 0.41 0.43 .10
Alc × Exp: G-Pos.i 0.15 0.11 .19 0.18 0.10 .25 0.24 0.20 .16
Alc × Exp: Sexualj −0.13 0.22 −.05 −0.17 0.20 −.08 0.15 0.40 .03
Alc × Exp: Aggk −0.14 0.22 −.07 −0.09 0.21 −.05 0.47 0.40 .13
Alc × Exp: Relaxationl 0.10 0.19 .07 −0.02 0.18 −.02 −0.42 0.35 −.14
R 2 .14* .08 .25***
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a

Alcohol expectancy regarding Global Positive Outcomes.

b

Alcohol expectancy regarding Sexual Enhancement.

c

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social and Physical Enhancement.

d

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social Assertiveness.

e

Alcohol expectancy regarding Relaxation and Tension Reduction.

f

Alcohol expectancy regarding Arousal and Aggression.

g

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social Assertiveness.

h

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social and Physical Enhancement.

i

Alcohol expectancy regarding Global Positive Outcomes.

j

Alcohol expectancy regarding Sexual Enhancement.

k

Alcohol expectancy regarding Arousal and Aggression.

l

Alcohol expectancy regarding Relaxation and Tension Reduction.

*

p < .05.

**

p < .01.

***

p < .001.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

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Simple slopes analysis: Women’s perceived risk to experience coerced sexual contact.

A second multiple regression analysis suggested that the model was predictive of women’s perceived risk to experience forced sexual contact, F(14, 176) = 2.00, p < .05. Only history of sexual victimization was associated with an increased perceived risk to experience this form of assault. A third multiple regression analysis suggested that the model did not account for a significant amount of variance in women’s perceived risk to experience unwanted sexual contact as a result of a man’s use of authority.

The fourth analysis indicated that the model accounted for a significant amount of variance in women’s perceived risk to experience sexual intercourse as a result of administration of alcohol/drugs, F(14, 176) = 5.74, p < .001. In the full model, weekly drinking and women’s expectancies regarding assertiveness when drinking were associated with increased perceived risk to experience this form of victimization, t(176) = 2.27, p < .05. A history of sexual victimization was also associated with increased perceived risk to experience sexual intercourse as a result of administration of alcohol/drugs, t(176) = 4.44, p < .001. A two-way interaction was evidenced between women’s alcohol use and global positive expectancies when drinking, t(176) = 2.35, p < .05. The simple slope for global positive expectancies was significant at high levels of alcohol use, t(176) = 2.02, p < .05, but not at low levels of alcohol use (see Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Figure 2

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Simple slopes analysis: Women’s perceived risk to experience unwanted sexual intercourse as a result of administration of alcohol or drugs.

The fifth regression analysis suggested that the model accounted for a significant amount of variance in women’s perceived risk to experience coerced sexual intercourse, F(14, 176) = 3.17, p < .001. In the full model, only history of sexual victimization was associated with an increased perceived risk for this form of victimization, t(176) = 2.76, p < .01. The sixth regression analysis suggested that the model accounted for a significant amount of variance in women’s perceived risk to experience sexual intercourse as a man’s use of authority, F(14, 176) = 2.42, p < .01. Only weekly alcohol use was associated with increased perceptions of risk for this form of victimization, t(176) = 4.29, p < .001. A seventh regression analysis suggested that the model did not account for a significant proportion of variance in women’s perceived risk to experience forced sexual intercourse (see Table 4).

Table 4.

Predicting Women’s Perceived Risk to Experience Unwanted Sexual Intercourse (n = 191).

Via alcohol/drugs
 Via coercion
 Via authority
 Via force
Variable B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β
Prior Victimization 29.62 6.66 .29*** 20.97 7.59 .19** 4.03 3.15 .09 11.96 4.60 .19*
Exp: Global Positivea 0.57 1.13 .06 0.62 1.29 .06 0.09 0.53 .02 −0.09 0.78 −.02
Exp: Sexualb 0.88 2.28 .03 0.20 2.60 .01 −0.49 1.08 −.04 0.24 1.58 .02
Exp: S/P En.c 2.02 2.65 .08 2.59 3.01 .09 0.20 1.25 .02 −0.92 1.83 −.06
Exp: S-Assertd 3.69 1.62 .22* 3.14 1.85 .17 0.28 0.77 .04 1.31 1.12 .13
Exp: Relaxatione 1.33 2.02 .07 0.58 2.31 .03 −0.54 0.96 −.07 1.08 1.40 .09
Exp: Aggressionf −3.27 2.15 −.15 −1.67 2.45 −.07 −0.65 1.02 −.07 −1.78 1.48 −.13
Weekly Alcohol Use 1.00 0.45 .16* 0.92 0.51 .14 0.91 0.21 .35*** 0.54 0.31 .15
Alc × Exp: S-Assertg −0.32 0.21 −.17 −0.15 0.24 −.08 −0.08 0.10 −.10 −0.18 0.14 −.16
Alc × Exp: S/P En.h 0.39 0.30 .14 0.13 0.34 .04 0.06 0.14 .05 0.07 0.20 .04
Alc × Exp: G-Pos.i 0.32 0.14 .29* 0.05 0.16 .04 0.08 0.07 .16 0.09 0.10 .13
Alc × Exp: Sexualj 0.11 0.27 .03 0.42 0.31 .12 −0.03 0.13 −.02 −0.12 0.19 −.06
Alc × Exp: Agg.k −0.15 0.28 −.06 0.19 0.32 .07 −0.12 0.13 −.10 −0.06 0.19 −.03
Alc × Exp: Relaxationl −0.01 0.24 −.01 0.22 0.28 .10 0.06 0.12 .07 0.10 0.17 .08
R 2 .31*** .20* .16* .11
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a

Alcohol expectancy regarding Global Positive Outcomes.

b

Alcohol expectancy regarding Sexual Enhancement.

c

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social and Physical Enhancement.

d

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social Assertiveness.

e

Alcohol expectancy regarding Relaxation and Tension Reduction.

f

Alcohol expectancy regarding Arousal and Aggression.

g

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social Assertiveness.

h

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social and Physical Enhancement.

i

Alcohol expectancy regarding Global Positive Outcomes.

j

Alcohol expectancy regarding Sexual Enhancement.

k

Alcohol expectancy regarding Arousal and Aggression.

l

Alcohol expectancy regarding Relaxation and Tension Reduction.

*

p < .05.

**

p < .01.

***

p < .001.

Alcohol Use, Expectancies, and Men’s Perceived Risk to Perpetrate Sexual Aggression

Multivariate regression analysis suggested that the model was associated with men’s perceived likelihood to obtain coerced sexual contact, F(14, 112) = 2.00, p < .05 (see Table 5). Only history of sexual aggression was associated with an increased perceived likelihood to perpetrate this form of sexual aggression, t(112) = 3.21, p < .01. The second regression model also accounted for a significant amount of variance in men’s perceived likelihood to obtain sexual intercourse by administering alcohol/drugs, F(14, 112) = 3.11, p < .001. A history of perpetration was associated with increased perceived likelihood to perpetrate this form of sexual aggression, t(112) = 4.95, p < .001. The third regression model accounted for a significant amount of variance in men’s perceived likelihood to obtain coerced sexual intercourse, F(14, 112) = 3.78, p < .001, R2 = .32. Only a history of perpetration was associated with increased perceived likelihood to engage in this form of sexual aggression, t(112) = 5.95, p < .001.

Table 5.

Predicting Men’s Perceived Likelihood to Perpetrate.

Coerced sexual
contact
 Coerced sexual
intercourse
 Sexual intercourse via
administration of alcohol/drugs
Variable B SE B β B SE B β B SE B β
Prior Perpetration 46.16 14.36 .30** 51.83 8.71 .51*** 44.07 8.91 .44***
Exp: Global Positivea 0.71 1.54 .08 −0.37 0.94 −.07 0.56 0.96 .10
Exp: Sexual Enhancementb 5.04 3.45 .21 0.71 2.09 .05 −1.94 2.14 −.12
Exp: S/P Enhancementc −1.11 4.34 −.05 2.07 2.64 .13 −0.33 2.70 −.02
Exp: Social Assertivenessd 0.82 2.29 .05 2.34 1.39 .22 −2.36 1.42 −.22
Exp: Relaxatione −0.01 2.89 −.01 −2.16 1.76 −.16 1.95 1.80 .15
Exp: Aggressionf −0.61 3.25 −.03 −1.61 1.97 −.11 2.33 2.02 .16
Weekly Alcohol Use 0.14 0.39 .04 −0.24 0.24 −.10 0.20 0.24 .09
Alc × Exp: Social Assertivenessg 0.05 0.18 .05 0.01 0.11 .01 −0.03 0.11 −.04
Alc × Exp: S/P Enhancementh 0.12 0.27 .08 −0.01 0.17 −.01 0.01 0.17 .01
Alc × Exp: Global Positivei −0.08 0.13 −.14 0.01 0.08 .01 0.08 0.08 .24
Alc × Exp: Sexual Enhancementj 0.10 0.27 .07 0.06 0.16 .06 0.12 0.17 .12
Alc × Exp: Aggressionk −0.06 0.26 −.04 0.04 0.16 .04 −0.11 0.16 −.11
Alc × Exp: Relaxationl −0.06 0.23 −.05 −0.11 0.14 −.12 −0.07 0.15 −.09
R 2 .20* .32*** .28***
Open in a new tab
a

Alcohol expectancy regarding Global Positive Outcomes.

b

Alcohol expectancy regarding Sexual Enhancement.

c

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social and Physical Enhancement.

d

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social Assertiveness.

e

Alcohol expectancy regarding Relaxation and Tension Reduction.

f

Alcohol expectancy regarding Arousal and Aggression.

g

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social Assertiveness.

h

Alcohol expectancy regarding Social and Physical Enhancement.

i

Alcohol expectancy regarding Global Positive Outcomes.

j

Alcohol expectancy regarding Sexual Enhancement.

k

Alcohol expectancy regarding Arousal and Aggression.

l

Alcohol expectancy regarding Relaxation and Tension Reduction.

*

p < .05.

**

p < .01.

***

p < .001.

Discussion

In light of the well-documented associations among alcohol use, expectancies, and sexual assault, the purpose of this study was to examine whether these variables were also associated with men’s and women’s perceived risk of perpetrating or experiencing various forms of sexual violence. Men’s and women’s respective perceived risk to perpetrate or experience various forms of sexual violence over a 3-month interim was examined. Furthermore, because research examining the relationship between substance use behaviors and likelihood to perpetrate sexual aggression has been primarily conducted within laboratory settings that involve exposure to violent pornography or the administration of alcohol (e.g., Malamuth, 1988; Norris, George, et al., 1999; Norris et al., 2002), this research utilized surveys that assessed men’s self-reported likelihood to engage in sexual aggression. Women also completed behaviorally oriented assessments of perceived risk to experience various forms of victimization.

Among women, the multivariate models suggested that women’s history of sexual victimization predicted perceptions of risk to experience coerced or forced sexual contact and sexual intercourse as a result of a man’s coercion or the administration of alcohol/drugs. These findings mirror prior results suggesting women with a history of sexual victimization report they are at higher risk to experience sexual assault than women without such a history (Kimmerling et al., 2007). As A. L. Brown et al. (2005) discuss, it is common for individuals who experience a negative life event to recognize they may experience the event in the future.

Multivariate analyses also indicated that higher weekly alcohol use increased women’s perceived risk to experience sexual intercourse as a result of a man’s authority or administration of alcohol/drugs. Because prior research generally does not distinguish between women’s perceived risk for different types of sexual assault, the current data extend findings suggesting women who were heavy drinkers perceived themselves at higher risk for future sexual victimization than nondrinkers (Gidycz et al., 2007). Given the clear associations between alcohol use and sexual assault (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006), it seems positive that women who report a higher level of weekly alcohol use recognize they may be more likely to be targeted for a sexual assault than women reporting a lower level of weekly alcohol use. However, even when women recognize that alcohol use increases risk for sexual assault, they may not take steps to reduce their risk for sexual victimization when drinking, or take steps to reduce their alcohol use. For example, McCauley and Calhoun (2008) documented that although college women acknowledge that alcohol use increases a woman’s risk for sexual victimization, they nonetheless believe they will be in control of a dating situation when intoxicated. Thus, it is important that sexual assault risk reduction programs not only teach women to recognize the situational and perpetrator characteristics associated with sexual assault, but also address ways to reduce vulnerability to potential perpetrators when choosing to drink.

Several associations between women’s expectancies when drinking and perceived risk for victimization were evidenced. First, higher expectancies regarding assertiveness when drinking were associated with increased perceived risk to experience sexual intercourse as a result of administration of alcohol/drugs. Second, among women reporting low levels of alcohol use, higher expectancies regarding assertiveness when drinking were associated with increased perceptions of risk for coerced sexual contact. While speculative, it is possible that women who expect to be assertive when drinking are aware that they are more likely to encounter men who use coercion or alcohol/drugs to obtain sexual contact or intercourse, respectively. An awareness of personal vulnerability to experience unwanted sexual advances when drinking may be especially salient among women who report low levels of alcohol use and expect to be assertive when consuming alcohol. Third, among women reporting high levels of weekly alcohol use, higher expectancies regarding global positive experiences when drinking were associated with increased perceptions of risk to experience sexual intercourse as the result of the administration of alcohol/drugs. Whereas future research is needed to explore this finding, it may be women who consume high levels of alcohol and believe that drinking leads to a good outcome recognize they will be more uninhibited when drinking, and thus potentially more at risk to be given alcohol/drugs by a man seeking to obtain sexual activity against their will.

It should be noted that four of the seven multiple regression analyses did not yield associations between alcohol expectancies and women’s perceived risk for various forms of victimization. Specifically, alcohol expectancies did not emerge as a predictor of women’s perceived risk to experience forced sexual contact or sexual intercourse, unwanted sexual contact as a result of a man’s use of authority, or coerced sexual intercourse. However, relatively few women perceived themselves at some risk to experience many of these forms of victimization. Specifically, less than 40% of women perceived themselves to be at some risk to experience forced sexual contact (34.1%), forced sexual intercourse (29.3%), coerced sexual intercourse (38.2%), or unwanted sexual contact as a result of a man’s authority (18.8%). More commonly, women perceived themselves at some risk to experience coerced sexual contact (61.3%) and unwanted sexual intercourse as a result of alcohol/drug administration (41.9%). Although speculative, it is possible that alcohol expectancies serve as a more robust predictor of women’s perceived risk to experience specific types of victimization, such as unwanted sexual contact or sexual intercourse as a result of the administration of alcohol/drugs.

It was notable that 33% of men indicated some intention to perpetrate at least one form of sexual aggression. These data are consistent with research suggesting that more than one third of men who engage in sexual aggression indicate they are at risk to do so (Abbey et al., 1998, Dean & Malamuth, 1997; Osland, Fitch, & Willis, 1996). Because no men indicated any risk to perpetrate forced sexual contact or intercourse, and few men reported any risk to obtain sexual contact or intercourse via authority, correlates of men’s perceived likelihood to perpetrate these forms of aggression were not examined. Instead, types of sexual aggression that men reported some perceived likelihood to perpetrate included: coerced sexual contact (26.0%) or intercourse (18.9%) and administration of alcohol/drugs to obtain sexual intercourse (7.9%). These data underscore the importance of communicating to men that using verbal pressure or alcohol as a means to engage in sexual activity constitutes sexual aggression (DeGue & DeLillo, 2005).

Multivariate analyses suggested that a history of sexual aggression was associated with perceived likelihood to obtain sexual contact through coercion, and obtain sexual intercourse through coercion or the administration of alcohol/drugs. Because repeat perpetration is common and a relatively small group of men commit the majority of sexual assaults (Lisak & Miller, 2002), these data underscore the importance of targeting men who recognize they are at risk to engage in sexually aggressive behavior within campus sexual assault prevention programs. Social norms programs (Gidycz, Orchowski, & Berkowitz, 2011) and bystander intervention programs (Banyard, Moynihan, & Plante, 2007) may be particularly effective in teaching men the difference between appropriate and inappropriate dating behaviors.

In light of prior research documenting differences in global positive alcohol expectancies (Aromaki & Lindman, 2001; Menard et al., 2003) and alcohol expectancies regarding sexuality (McMurran & Bellfield, 2003; Palmer et al., 2010; Wilson et al., 2002) in sexually aggressive and nonsexually aggressive men, it was surprising that alcohol use or alcohol expectancies were not associated with men’s perceived likelihood to perpetrate any of the forms of sexual aggression in the multivariate models. Given the relatively low rates of perpetration among the current sample (12.6%), future research examining these constructs among samples of high-risk men (i.e., men with a history of sexual aggression, men who report heavy drinking) is warranted. It is possible that assessing risk to perpetrate over a longer interim may have increased men’s reporting of perceived likelihood to perpetrate. Furthermore, Norris and her colleagues (2002) reported that men’s expectancies and consumption of alcohol acted jointly to increase men’s perceived likelihood to perpetrate sexual aggression after viewing explicit and violent media. Thus, it is possible that men’s beliefs about how alcohol will influence their behavior serves to increase intentions to engage in sexual aggression only after men have consumed alcohol. Furthermore, this study did not include an assessment of personality characteristics. However, the confluence model of sexual aggression (Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, & Tanaka, 1991) suggests that multiple life experiences, attitudes, and behaviors interact to increase men’s proclivity to engage in sexual aggression. Future studies may advance this area of research by including measures of men’s attitudes and belief systems. Qualitative research may also be helpful in providing a richer understanding of the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors that increase men’s likelihood to perpetrate.

Consistent with the demographics of the university, the current study recruited a primarily Caucasian sample constituted of 18- to 19-year-old men and women at a 4-year college. Thus, it is unclear how these data may generalize to non-Caucasian students, older students, or individuals in nontraditional college settings. The current study assessed participants’ history of sexual assault and perceptions of risk to perpetrate/experience sexual assault using the SES and a version of the SES modified to assess for perceived risk. This assessment strategy may result in inflated method variance. Although the Revised Sexual Experiences Scale (Koss et al., 2007) was not available for use at the time of the study, future research may consider using this updated scale to assess for sexual aggression and sexual victimization among men and women, respectively. Future studies may also consider utilizing more specific assessments of alcohol use, given data suggesting that episodic heavy drinking is more closely related to sexual assault among college students compared with general alcohol consumption (see Testa & Livingston, 2009, for a review). Finally, the current study is also limited by the cross-sectional design. Following the methodology of Gidycz, Warkentin, Orchowski, & Edwards (2011) and Orchowski et al. (2012), future studies should also include a follow-up assessment to examine how risk assessments relate to subsequent perpetration and experience of sexual violence.

In sum, the current data indicated that men’s and women’s respective history of perpetrating sexual victimization or being sexual victimized is associated with perceived likelihood for perpetrating or experiencing subsequent sexual violence. Among women, increased weekly alcohol use was associated with increased perceptions of risk for unwanted sexual intercourse as a result of a man’s authority or administration of alcohol/drugs. Among women, expectancies regarding assertiveness when drinking were associated with increased perceived risk to experience unwanted sexual intercourse as a result of administration of alcohol/drugs, and increased risk for unwanted sexual contact as a result of coercion among women who reported low levels of drinking. Global positive alcohol expectancies were also associated with increased perceived risk for unwanted sexual intercourse as a result of administration of alcohol or drugs among women who indicated high levels of drinking. Understanding the characteristics of college students who perceive themselves at risk of perpetrating or experiencing sexual assault can inform the development of sexual assault prevention efforts on college campuses.

Acknowledgments

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Preparation of this manuscript was supported through an NIAAA Training Grant (T32 AA07459, PI: Anthony Spirito, PhD) to Lindsay Orchowski, PhD.

Biographies

Amy S. Untied, MA, earned her undergraduate degree with honors from Ohio University, where she majored in psychology and sociology/criminology. She completed her master’s degree at Xavier University. She is currently in her 4th year of the clinical psychology doctoral program at Xavier University.

Lindsay M. Orchowski, PhD, completed her undergraduate degree in psychology with high honors in women’s studies at Dartmouth College. She obtained a PhD in clinical psychology with a specialization in applied quantitative psychology, and a graduate certificate in women’s studies from Ohio University. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University.

Vanessa Lazar, MA, received her undergraduate degree in psychology as well as her MA in marine affairs and a graduate certificate in women’s studies from the University of Rhode Island. She is currently a research assistant at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) had no role in the study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; writing the manuscript; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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