College male sexual assault of women and the psychology of men: Past, present, and future directions for research.

Abstract

For several decades, investigators have attempted to identify factors that explain why some men perpetrate sexual assault in college. However, despite a strong emphasis on men as the perpetrators of sexual assault, current reviews have yet to analyze different masculinities in relation to sexual assault offending. In the present narrative review, we critically examined college sexual assault research published between 1950 and 2015 and identified 3 distinct approaches to examining masculinities: sex comparisons, men’s attitudes toward women and violence, and constructs informed by the normative and gender role strain paradigms of the psychology of men. Findings revealed that (a) studies of sexual assault perpetration focusing on men and masculinities are relatively rare in the extant literature; (b) sex differences in perpetration rates are complex; (c) men’s attitudes toward women and violence are strong predictors of sexual assault perpetration, and also the most common approach to studying masculinities in relation to sexual assault offending, but they may be limited in their definition; and (d) research examining men’s sexual assault perpetration using constructs central to the psychology of men is generally underdeveloped and underrepresented. Future directions for research are discussed, including a need for more investigations focusing on ethnic and sexual orientation diversity, broader definitions of masculinity, and more inquiry using normative and gender role strain constructs.

Media-Induced Sexual Harassment: The Routes from Sexually Objectifying Media to Sexual Harassment

“…Not surprisingly, the belief system surrounding traditional masculinity has been found to be linked consistently to men's sexual harassment, rape-supportive attitudes, violence against women, and sexual assault (see McDermott et al 2015;Murnen et al 2002, for reviews). For example, conformity to masculine norms of being playboys (according to which men are sexually promiscuous) and having power over women (i.e., the belief that men should control women) are related to men's tendencies of gazing at, inspecting, and evaluating women's bodies, as well as to higher levels of unwanted sexual advances toward women (Mikorski and Szymanski 2017).…”

A systematic review of the association between rape myth acceptance and male-on-female sexual violence

“…Despite this heterogeneity in measurement tools, RMA has shown strong predictive validity in several studies (McDermott, Kilmartin, McKelvey, & Kridel, 2015;Süssenbach et al, 2013;Vega & Malamuth 2007;Abrams, Viki, Masser, & Bohner, 2003;Bohner et al, 2005). It is still considered a key risk factor for sexual violence perpetration in the prevailing model of this behaviour, the Confluence Model (Malamuth, Linz, Heavey, Barnes, & Acker, 1995); RMA is part of the model's wider construct of "hostile masculinity", which is hypothesised to interact with several other variables in order to culminate in sexual violence.…”

“…Self-report measures are therefore regarded as the best available instruments, as they provide actual measures of sexual violence, and thus provide higher external validity for the risk factors they identify. The Sexual Experiences Survey (SES, Koss & Oros, 1982) is the most popular of these instruments (McDermott et al, 2015;Porter & Critelli, 1992), yet when administered in cross-sectional studies, the SES necessarily measures retrospective perpetration of sexual violence, as items refer to past behaviours (e.g. Swartout, 2013), and therefore cannot rule out reverse causality.…”

You see but you do not observe: A review of bystander intervention and sexual assault on university campuses

“…One review suggests prevention of sexual assault should be the responsibility of women (see Söchting, Fairbrother, & Koch, 2004). Others say responsibility should be on the men as they are most often the perpetrators (see Berkowitz, 1992;McDermott, Kilmartin, McKelvey, & Kridel, 2015). Finally, some believe that bystander intervention is the way to decrease prevalence rates (see Latané & Darley (1970) where they present the importance of bystander intervention and the five steps to intervening); bystanders (also known as third party witnesses) can be encouraged to intervene before, during, or after a sexual assault has occurred (McMahon et al, 2014).…”