Early and Middle Adolescents' Reasoning About Moral and Personal Concerns in Opposite‐sex Interactions

Shaw, Leigh A.; Wainryb, Cecilia; Smetana, Judith G.

doi:10.1111/sode.12076

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Because multiple reasons were allowed, responses were scored in terms of the proportional use of each reason (e.g., a response referring to two reasons scored each reason .5). Assumptions of the consensual status of the practice were scored as 0 = ‘ nonconsensual ’ and 1 = ‘ consensual .’ Finally the contingency of the practice evaluation on the consensual status of the practice was scored as 0 = ‘ noncontingent ’ (i.e., the manipulation of the consensual status of the practice did not change the evaluation) or 1 = ‘ contingent ’ (i.e., the manipulation of the consensual status of the practice changed the evaluation; see Shaw, Wainryb, & Smetana, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young adults in the United States and Benin reason about gendered cultural traditions

Conry‐Murray

Shaw

2016

Social Development

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This study explored emerging and young adults' reasoning about cultural practices in West Africa. American (Study 1, n 5 78, M 5 20.76 years) and Beninese (Study 2, n 5 93, M 5 23.61 years) undergraduates were surveyed about their evaluations of corporal punishment, scarification, and schooling restrictions in conditions where the practices had gender-neutral or gender-specified targets. In Study 1, the majority (69%) of American participants negatively evaluated the practices, especially when targets were female. However, the majority (73%) assumed the cultural practices were consensual. In Study 2, the majority (76%) of Beninese participants negatively evaluated the practices, and their evaluations did not vary by gender of the target. Few (10%) Beninese participants assumed the cultural practices were consensual. In both studies, emerging and young adults who initially judged practices positively changed their evaluations with a change in consent. K E Y W O R D S culture, gender, moral development 1 | I NTR OD U CTI ON Colleges often promote diversity by suggesting that undergraduates should respect and tolerate diverse ways of life and cultural practices. At the same time, many social scientists and philosophers assert that practices entailing harm, injustice, coercion, or victimization should not be tolerated (Hatch, 1983; Nussbaum, 1998). Some cultural practices, such as corporal punishment and scarification (the practice of producing scars to identify members of a community), involve physical harm. Other cultural practices, such as restricting children from attending school, limit individuals' opportunities. How do people decide if these cultural practices should be tolerated as part of a valuing of diversity, or rejected because of moral concerns with welfare and justice? The present investigation examined how undergraduates reason about cultural practices that have gendered or gender-neutral targets and their assumptions of consent to cultural practices. We examined these issues in two studies, one in the United States (Study 1) where undergraduates evaluated practices portrayed as common in Africa and the other in the West African country of Benin (Study 2), where undergraduates judged practices commonplace in their own culture. Social Development. 2017;26:831-845.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sode

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young adults in the United States and Benin reason about gendered cultural traditions

Conry‐Murray

Shaw

2016

Social Development

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“…When a person judges that their sexual behaviors are acceptable, they have little reason to refrain from those behaviors or to condemn others for similar behaviors. Research on moral psychology and moral development offers a framework for explaining why a perpetrator may deem acceptable acts that from the victim’s perspective constitute sexual violations (Killen & Dahl, 2021; Shaw et al, 2014). Crucially, moral judgments derive not only from fundamental moral concerns with others’ welfare or rights but also from perceptions of how actions affect the experiences and opportunities of others.…”

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Perceptions of interest and agency explain disagreements about sexual violations

Corzine

Dahl

2022

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Sexual violations have profound, negative impacts on social relationships. But although most people agree that sexual assault and other sexual violations are wrong, they often disagree about which acts constitute sexual violations. Moral psychological research suggests that evaluations about right and wrong actions are based on social perceptions, for instance about how actions affect others. Three studies examined whether perceptions about victims’ sexual interest and agency explain disagreements about ambiguous sexual violations (situations that lacked explicit and consistent consent or non-consent). The studies also examined whether such perceptions about sexual interest and agency in concrete situations related to general beliefs about sexual encounters, known as Rape Myths. Participants read hypothetical vignettes about potential sexual violations and reported their perceptions and evaluations of the events. Studies 1 and 2 found that, in response to ambiguous events, participants who perceived greater sexual interest and agency in the targets of sexual actions evaluated the actions more positively. The studies also found that, relative to ambiguous events, participants evaluated consensual events more positively and non-consensual events less positively. As an experimental test of the effects of perceived target interest, Study 3 manipulated conventions for signaling sexual interest. The results provided experimental evidence that perceptions of sexual interest guide evaluations of potential sexual violations. Across the three studies, individual differences in two forms of Rape Myth Acceptance predicted perceptions of target interest and agency. This research provides evidence for how social perceptions shape evaluations of potentially ambiguous sexual events, thus validating a framework for explaining and preventing disagreements about sexual violations.

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“…This research indicated that consent was seen as necessary, though not sufficient for a social interaction to be judged to be morally permissible. Research on cross-gender interpersonal transgressions shows that consent is seen as key (Shaw, Wainryb, & Smetana, 2014). Shaw et al (2014) found that when different gender interactions were seen as entailing coercion, they were judged more negatively.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Research on cross-gender interpersonal transgressions shows that consent is seen as key (Shaw, Wainryb, & Smetana, 2014). Shaw et al (2014) found that when different gender interactions were seen as entailing coercion, they were judged more negatively.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…We also examine whether development occurs across the college years. Shaw et al (2014) found that as adolescents age, they pay more attention to consent than their younger counterparts. Yarmey (1985) compared young adults and older adults and found that young adults around age 19 rated sexual assault victims as more to blame than their older counterparts around age 58, but they also rated the perpetrator as more responsible for the assault.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Reasoning about Sexual Assault in Emerging Adults: The Role of Consent

Kaluza

Conry‐Murray

2021

HPB

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Emerging adult college students (77 men, 82 women) in the U.S. evaluated consent and the acceptability of a sexual act in hypothetical scenarios which varied the response of the protagonist/victim, the length of the relationship and the gender of the protagonist. Judgments of the acceptability of sexual acts were strongly associated with judgments of consent. Judgments of consent and the acceptability, responsibility for and deserved-punishment for the sexual act differed depending on the victim's responses and relationships lengths. Compared to women, men judged sex after the freezing response to be more acceptable, and the perpetrator to be less responsible and less punish-worthy. In addition, men were less likely than women to label responses where the victim froze as rape. No differences were found between participants in their first years of college compared to their last years of college.

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Early and Middle Adolescents' Reasoning About Moral and Personal Concerns in Opposite‐sex Interactions

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Young adults in the United States and Benin reason about gendered cultural traditions

Young adults in the United States and Benin reason about gendered cultural traditions

Perceptions of interest and agency explain disagreements about sexual violations

Reasoning about Sexual Assault in Emerging Adults: The Role of Consent

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