Changing Cognitive Risk Factors for Sexual Aggression: Risky Sexual Scripts, Low Sexual Self-Esteem, Perception of Pornography, and Acceptance of Sexual Coercion

Abstract

Sexual aggression is a problem among college students worldwide, and a growing body of research has identified variables associated with an increased risk of victimization and perpetration. Among these, sexuality-related cognitions, such as sexual scripts, sexual self-esteem, perceived realism of pornography, and acceptance of sexual coercion, play a major role. The current experimental study aimed to show that these cognitive risk factors of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration are amenable to change, which is a critical condition for evidence-based intervention efforts. College students in Germany ( N = 324) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a treatment group designed to change participants’ sexual scripts for consensual sex with regard to the role of alcohol consumption, casual sex, and ambiguous communication of sexual intentions as risk factors for sexual aggression (EG1), a treatment group designed to promote sexual self-esteem, challenge the perceived realism of pornography, and reduce the acceptance of sexual coercion (EG2), and a non-treatment control group (CG). Baseline (T1), post-experimental (T2), and follow-up (T3) measures were taken across an eight-week period. Sexual scripts contained fewer risk factors for sexual aggression in EG1 than in EG2 and CG at T3. Sexual self-esteem was enhanced in EG2 at T2 relative to the other two groups. Acceptance of sexual coercion was lower in EG2 than in EG1 and CG at T2 and T3. No effect was found for perceived realism of pornography. The findings are discussed in terms of targeting cognitive risk factors as a basis for intervention programs.

Prevalence of Sexual Aggression Victimization and Perpetration in a German University Student Sample

“…In addition to approaches designed to promote bystander interventions in situations that carry the risk of a sexual assault (Kettrey & Marx, 2019 ), interventions should be developed that reduce the odds that such situations arise in the first place. First evidence collected in Germany about the modifiability of risk factors for perpetration and vulnerability factors for victimization has yielded promising results for designing theory-based intervention programs (Schuster et al, 2020 ). The present findings suggest that such programs are urgently needed.…”

Pathways from College Students’ Cognitive Scripts for Consensual Sex to Sexual Victimization: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

“…Nevertheless, the findings suggest that sexual scripts as generalized cognitive representations of consensual sexual interactions may provide critical information for understanding sexual behavior that is associated with a vulnerability to sexual victimization. Because both sexual scripts and sexual behavior are amenable to change (Schuster et al, 2020), the findings provide a starting point for developing interventions addressing risky scripts for consensual sex to reduce the vulnerability to sexual victimization. Such interventions should aim at reducing the prominence of risk elements of sexual victimization in individuals' scripts for consensual sex, for example, the perception that alcohol use is both a typical and a normative part of sexual encounters.…”

Links of Perceived Pornography Realism with Sexual Aggression via Sexual Scripts, Sexual Behavior, and Acceptance of Sexual Coercion: A Study with German University Students

“…To arrive at a measure of risky sexual scripts for consensual sexual encounters, a two-part measure was used, following past research [ 36 , 41 ]. The first part measured the descriptive content of risky scripts with regard to the following scenario: “You spend the evening together with a man/woman.…”

“…To create an overall score of the normative evaluation of script elements, responses were averaged across the five items (α = 0.67). A final score reflecting risky sexual scripts was calculated for each participant by multiplying the mean of the descriptive script items by the mean of the normative script items, following previous research [ 36 , 41 ]. The resulting score had a range from 1 to 25.…”

“…We refer to sexual script as “risky” if they include features that have been identified consistently in the scientific literature as increasing the probability of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration. Specifically, we consider three such factors as elements of risky sexual scripts: alcohol use during sexual encounters, sex with casual partners, and ambiguous communication of sexual intentions [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. As shown by content analyses, these features are often presented in pornographic media [ 38 , 39 ].…”