Male Peer Support and Sexual Assault: The Relation Between High-Profile, High School Sports Participation and Sexually Predatory Behavior
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2021 in Journal of Sexual Aggression
KEY FINDINGS
- This study indicates that frequency of pornography consumption is a significant predictor of committing acts of sexual violence.
ABSTRACT
The etiology of the nexus between high-profile athletic participation and sexual aggression has been explained using Male Peer Support (MPS) Theory, though research is dated and has relied heavily upon college athletic participation. The present study assesses the relation between retrospective participation in high-profile, high school (HS) team sports and woman abuse using survey responses from a sample of 280 undergraduate men at a public university in the Pacific Northwest. Results from multivariate regression models... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "Results revealed the salient role of pornography consumption frequency as a significant predictor of [likelihood to rape], thus reiterating existing research on pornography consumption and rape proclivity, sexual coercion, and sexual aggression."
- "Mainstream heterosexual pornography has depicted the degradation of women, normalised violence, and objectified women, all of which contribute to unrealistic expectations about the way men may relate to women in interpersonal and intimacy contexts. Scholars have argued this has facilitated a range of violence against women, though findings presented here suggest that men who more frequently consume pornography more readily expressed a desire to act out their sexual fantasies that involve coerced, intoxicated, or forced sex and sexual assault, but only if they were assured they would not be caught."
