C. Struckmanjohnson et D. Struckmanjohnson, COLLEGE MENS AND WOMENS REACTIONS TO HYPOTHETICAL SEXUAL TOUCH VARIEDBY INITIATOR GENDER AND COERCION LEVEL, Sex roles, 29(5-6), 1993, pp. 371-385
A sample of 152 men and 152 women (mostly Caucasian) rated their react
ions to a vignette in which the subjects were to imagine receiving an
uninvited genital touch from a college acquaintance. The vignette was
varied so that the acquaintance was of the opposite or the same gender
as the subject, and the touch was either gentle or forceful. Results
indicated that women anticipated strong negative effects from receivin
g opposite- or same-gender touch, whether gentle or forceful. Men anti
cipated almost no negative effects from either a gentle or forceful to
uch from a female acquaintance, but expected strong negative effects f
rom a gentle or forceful touch from a male acquaintance. Regression an
alyses revealed that women's reactions to opposite-gender touch were m
ediated by beliefs in a male norm promoting casual sex, and feelings o
f violation and fear of harm. Men's reactions to opposite-gender touch
were influenced by feelings related to sexual arousal. Men and women'
s reactions to same-gender touch were related to feelings of violation
and harm.