A dangerous boomerang: Injunctive norms, hostile sexist attitudes, and male‐to‐female sexual aggression

Bosson, Jennifer K.; Parrott, Dominic J.; Swan, Suzanne C.; Kuchynka, Sophie L.; Schramm, Andrew T.

doi:10.1002/ab.21597

Cited by 56 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Attitudes condoning violence are consistently associated with boys' TDV perpetration (Foshee et al, 2001; Reyes et al, 2016). Similarly, given pervasive hegemonic gender socialization messages in our culture mandating boys and men to be strong, dominant, and superior to women, it is likely victimization by girls could fuel anti-feminine attitudes and hostility thereby precipitating future IPV/TDV by males as a means of maintaining dominance over women (Bosson et al, 2015; Malamuth et al, 1995; Smith et al, 2015). Thus, the relatively small sex differences in perpetration identified in the present sample may grow with age increasing the disparity in perpetration as boys physically mature into adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boys are victims too? Sexual dating violence and injury among high-risk youth

Reidy

Early

Holland

2017

Preventive Medicine

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Objective Prior research with youth exposed to violence suggests that, in this high-risk population, boys may be victims of sexual teen dating violence (TDV) and injury as frequently as girls. We sought to replicate these findings with a demographically similar sample and to determine whether the findings could be attributed the high-risk nature of the sample by assessing the impact of violence exposure on sex differences. Methods A cross-sectional sample of 2577 youth (ages 11–18, M = 15.4, SD = 1.9, 52% female, 25% Caucasian) collected in 2004 from a high-risk community reported on history of dating and exposure to multiple forms of violence. We conducted moderation analyses to test whether polyvictimization (PV) and age moderated the potential sex differences in perpetration and victimization of sexual TDV and injury. Results No significant sex differences in victimization were observed regardless of degree of PV. Boys reported more frequent sexual TDV and injury perpetration relative to girls, but only for youth reporting high degree of PV. There were no sex differences in perpetration among low PV youth. Conclusions These findings suggest boys from high-risk communities may disproportionately perpetrate severe acts of TDV but at this early age they are equally likely to be victimized. To interrupt the cycle of violence victimization and perpetration, comprehensive violence prevention interventions targeting high-risk youth should be implemented at schools, in homes, and in the community; and they should recognize the potential for girls and boys to be victims of even the most severe forms of TDV.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boys are victims too? Sexual dating violence and injury among high-risk youth

Reidy

Early

Holland

2017

Preventive Medicine

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“…Those concerned about an issue frequently attempt to motivate change by publicizing the size of the problem: “1 in 3 women globally are abused by their partner”; or: “The average American intakes 44.7 gallons of sugary soda each year”. Because descriptive norms (beliefs about what others do) can influence people’s behaviour, such campaigns can unwittingly reinforce a practice [ 15 , 107 , 108 ]. Even though this point is quite well established in the theoretical and empirical literature, there are still questions about how this finding can inform effective interventions.…”

Section: Eight Pitfalls Of Social Norms Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theory and practice of social norms interventions: eight common pitfalls

2018

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BackgroundRecently, Global Health practitioners, scholars, and donors have expressed increased interest in “changing social norms” as a strategy to promote health and well-being in low and mid-income countries (LMIC). Despite this burgeoning interest, the ability of practitioners to use social norm theory to inform health interventions varies widely.Main bodyHere, we identify eight pitfalls that practitioners must avoid as they plan to integrate a social norms perspective in their interventions, as well as eight learnings. These learnings are: 1) Social norms and attitudes are different; 2) Social norms and attitudes can coincide; 3) Protective norms can offer important resources for achieving effective social improvement in people’s health-related practices; 4) Harmful practices are sustained by a matrix of factors that need to be understood in their interactions; 5) The prevalence of a norm is not necessarily a sign of its strength; 6) Social norms can exert both direct and indirect influence; 7) Publicising the prevalence of a harmful practice can make things worse; 8) People-led social norm change is both the right and the smart thing to do.ConclusionsAs the understanding of how norms evolve in LMIC advances, practitioners will develop greater understanding of what works to help people lead change in harmful norms within their contexts. Awareness of these pitfalls has helped several of them increase the effectiveness of their interventions addressing social norms in the field. We are confident that others will benefit from these reflections as well.

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“…Some prior research has found that injunctive norms may have an influence on behavior even in situations where descriptive norms do not (Henry et al., ; Moon, Weick, & Uskul, ). Numerous prior studies have documented associations between youths’ perceptions of injunctive norms and substance use (Nesi, Rothenberg, Hussong, & Jackson, ; Stanley, Swaim, & Dieterich, ) and aggression perpetration (Ajzen, ; Bosson, Parrott, Swan, Kuchynka, & Schramm, ; Hertzog & Rowley, ; Reyes, Foshee, Niolon, Reidy, & Hall, ). The robust relationship between perceptions of peers’ expectations for behavior and individuals’ actual behavior has been attributed to the human tendency to want to be perceived as behaving “normally”—that is, neither above or below the norm (Hertzog & Rowley, ; Schultz, Nolan, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of Community Norms and Youths’ Reactive and Proactive Dating and Sexual Violence Bystander Action

Rothman

Edwards

Rizzo

et al. 2019

American J of Comm Psychol

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Highlights• Dating and sexual violence prevention programs that promote bystander intervention are popular.• More information about what facilitates or inhibits bystander behavior in DSV situations is needed.• Youth perception of community norms were associated with action frequency for many bystander actions.Abstract There is enthusiasm for programs that promote bystander intervention to prevent dating and sexual violence (DSV). However, more information about what facilitates or inhibits bystander behavior in DSV situations is needed. The present cross-sectional survey study investigated whether youth perceptions of adults' behavior and community norms were associated with how frequently youth took action and intervened in DSV situations or to prevent DSV. Specifically, study hypotheses were that youths' perceptions of communitylevel variables, such as adults' willingness to help victims of DSV or prevent DSV, perceptions of community collective efficacy, and perceptions of community descriptive and injunctive norms disapproving of DSV and supporting DSV prevention, would be associated with how frequently youths took reactive and proactive bystander action. Participants were 2172 students from four high schools in one New England state. ANOVA analyses found that descriptive norms were associated with all actionist behaviors, and perceptions of community cohesion were also consistently associated with them. Injunctive norms were associated, but less consistently, with actionist behaviors. Findings suggest that DSV-related social norms, and descriptive norms and community cohesion in particular, might be relevant to youth DSV bystander behavior.

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A dangerous boomerang: Injunctive norms, hostile sexist attitudes, and male‐to‐female sexual aggression

Cited by 56 publications

References 68 publications

Boys are victims too? Sexual dating violence and injury among high-risk youth

Boys are victims too? Sexual dating violence and injury among high-risk youth

Theory and practice of social norms interventions: eight common pitfalls

Perceptions of Community Norms and Youths’ Reactive and Proactive Dating and Sexual Violence Bystander Action

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