Female hormone influences on sexual assaults in northern ireland from 2002 to 2009

Beirne, Patricia; Hall, Janet; Grills, Claire; Moore, Tara

doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2011.06.010

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Petralia and Gallup (2002) hypothesised that as women in their ovulatory phase are less likely to be raped (Morgan, 1981, as cited in Petralia and Gallup, 2002, though see Fessler 2003, there may be a connection between increased strength and rape avoidance. However, other research has suggested that rape is not less frequent during ovulation (Fessler, 2003), or may even be more likely (Beirne et al 2011). While Petralia and Gallup (2002) suggested that this finding is representative of the increased ability to thwart off a sexual attack when it would have the most reproductive costs, it is not entirely clear what increased handgrip strength in response to the likelihood of sexual assault occurring was operationalising.…”

Section: Increased Strengthmentioning

confidence: 97%

Female Counter-Adaptations to Rape

Ryder

Williams

Maltby

et al. 2021

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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This chapter reviews the literature on evolutionary explanations of rape. In particular, it will discuss research that has investigated whether women have rape counter-adaptations. Rape counteradaptations entail specialized mechanisms that reduce women's risk of male sexual coercion. Our discussion will be necessarily restricted to rape perpetrated on women by men. Although women can perpetrate rape and men can be the victims of rape, most rapes are perpetrated by men against women (Office for National Statistics, 2013). Accordingly, evolutionary explanations of rape have been concerned with accounting for male-perpetrated rapes against females. Costs of rapeThe evolutionary framework assumes that animals strive to attain two fundamental goals: survive and reproduce offspring. In women, successful reproduction is considered to be passing on the strongest genes and resources that will increase the chances of survival of the species. During peak fertility, women aim to attract the highest quality mate to achieve this. Successful reproduction for males involves the quantity of their offspring, with less importance being placed on their quality (Bateman, 1948;Trivers, 1972). In order to survive, some psychologists propose that humans weigh up the costs and benefits of putting themselves in certain situations, which could prove fruitful, in terms of achieving resources to benefit fitness, such as meeting mates, but could also pose risks in terms of encountering aggressive mates, for example. For the purposes of this chapter, benefits refer to outcomes of a positive sexual encounter (e.g., increased chances of successful reproduction) whilst costs refer to the consequences of a negative sexual encounter (e.g. decreased chances of successful reproduction). Rape, therefore, is a high cost due to the reduced chances of a successful and wanted reproduction (McKibbin, 2014).Perhaps one of the most obvious costs of rape is the psychological pain felt by the victim. With regards to reproductive fitness specifically, however, pregnancy arising from rape is considered to be one of the highest costs of rape. Pregnancy reduces a woman's reproductive fitness significantly because she must carry and raise offspring with a mate not of her choosing, thereby limiting her reproductive resources. It is argued that "perhaps the most important priority for many female animals in their heterosexual interactions is the maintenance of [mate] choice" (Wilson et al. 1997, p.443). Rape circumvents female mate choice, and so, according to the evolutionary framework, it is particularly costly with regard to unwanted conception.

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Section: Increased Strengthmentioning

confidence: 97%

Female Counter-Adaptations to Rape

Ryder

Williams

Maltby

et al. 2021

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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“…Notably, were a positive correlation to be found between conception risk and participants' estimations of the likelihood of sexual assault, then, at least for Western urban participants, such a correlation would not be explicable in terms of any objective patterns of criminal behavior. In the modern urban West, women are not more likely to be sexually assaulted during the high-fertility phase than at other points in the menstrual cycle(Fessler, 2003;Beirne et al, 2011). Instead, the postulated inflated likelihood estimations would best be explained in terms of error management.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assets at Risk: Menstrual Cycle Variation in the Envisioned Formidability of a Potential Sexual Assailant Reveals a Component of Threat Assessment

Fessler

Holbrook

Fleischman

2014

Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology

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Situations of potential agonistic conflict demand rapid and effective decision-making. The process of threat assessment includes assessments of relative fighting capacity, assessments of the likelihood of attack, and assessments of the extent to which one′s assets are at risk. The dimensions of physical size and strength appear to serve as key parameters in a cognitive representation summarizing multiple constituents of threat assessment. Here, we examine the thesis that this same representation summarizes asset risk. The fitness costs of sexual assault are in part a function of conception risk, as pregnancy due to assault compromises female choice and imperils existing and subsequent male investment. Prior research indicates that women′s attitudes and behaviors vary systematically across the menstrual cycle in a manner that would have reduced the likelihood of sexual assault during periods of greatest fertility in ancestral women. If the envisioned size and strength of a potential antagonist is used to represent asset risk, and if the threat that sexual assault poses to a woman′s reproductive assets is in part a product of her fertility, then the conceptualized size and strength of a potential sexual assailant should be a function of conception risk. We find support for this prediction in a large sample of naturally-cycling women in urban Southern California, indicating that asset risk is summarized using the same representation as relative fighting capacity and likelihood of attack. Presumably, this elegant use of a single representation for multiple aspects of threat assessment facilitates rapid decisionmaking in agonistic contexts.

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“…At the same time, some data run counter to the notion that rape is less common during ovulation (for review see 15 ). For example, a study that retrospectively examined the menstrual cycles of women who reported a rape to the police found that ovulation was associated with the highest risk for rape 16 . Thus, although the preponderance of theory and data suggests that ovulation may function as a protective factor for rape, the literature regarding this association is rather mixed and warrants further study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ovulation, In Vivo Emotion Regulation Problems, and Sexual Risk Recognition Deficits

Walsh¹,

DiLillo²

2013

Journal of American College Health

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Objective To examine associations between menstrual cycle phase, negative mood, sexual risk recognition deficits (assessed via an analogue risk vignette), and in vivo emotion dysregulation. Participants Participants were 714 college women recruited between February 2007 and December 2009. Methods Participants were randomly assigned to a negative or neutral mood induction and instructed to identify sexual risk during an audiotaped sexual coercion vignette. Participants reported menstrual cycle information, in vivo emotional nonacceptance, and attention during the vignette. Results In the negative mood condition, ovulation was associated with longer risk recognition latencies relative to the luteal and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle. Increased in vivo emotional nonacceptance and decreased attention to the vignette mediated associations between ovulation and risk recognition deficits in the negative mood condition. Conclusions Sexual assault risk reduction programs could provide psychoeducation regarding negative mood during ovulation and emphasize emotional acceptance and attention to external stimuli when distressed.

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Female hormone influences on sexual assaults in northern ireland from 2002 to 2009

Cited by 10 publications

References 15 publications

Female Counter-Adaptations to Rape

Female Counter-Adaptations to Rape

Assets at Risk: Menstrual Cycle Variation in the Envisioned Formidability of a Potential Sexual Assailant Reveals a Component of Threat Assessment

Ovulation, In Vivo Emotion Regulation Problems, and Sexual Risk Recognition Deficits

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