Original article
The Role of Hypermasculinity, Token Resistance, Rape Myth, and Assertive Sexual Consent Communication Among College Men

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.10.015Get rights and content
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Abstract

Purpose

A greater understanding of how college men's gendered beliefs and communication styles relate to their sexual consent attitudes and intentions is essential within the shifting context of negative to affirmative consent policies on college campuses. The results of this study can be used to help design more effective sexual consent interventions.

Methods

Three hundred seventy undergraduate college men completed cross-sectional online surveys. Hierarchical multiple regression examined how hypermasculinity, token resistance, rape myth acceptance, and sexual communication assertiveness were associated with consent-related attitudes, intentions, and interpretations.

Results

Bivariate correlations among all variables were significant. In multivariate analyses, sexual communication assertiveness was positively associated with all consent outcomes, and token resistance and rape myth acceptance were negatively associated with some. Hypermasculinity was not a significant factor.

Conclusions

Programs seeking to improve sexual consent communication among college men should reduce destructive beliefs and encourage sexually assertive communication.

Keywords

Sexual communication assertiveness
Hypermasculinity
Token resistance
Rape myth acceptance
Sexual consent communication

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Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Disclaimer: Publication of this article was sponsored by the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine through an unrestricted educational grant from Merck. The opinions or views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the funders.