STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF MALE SEXUALLY AGGRESSIVE-BEHAVIOR AS A FUNCTION OF EDUCATIONAL-LEVEL AND GENDER

Two hundred and four students (108 college freshmen, sophomores, junio rs, and seniors; 96 high school juniors and seniors) participated in t his study. The socioeconomic status of the participants (high school = 93% Caucasian, 7% African-American; college = 96% Caucasian, 4% Afric an-American) was primarily in the lower middle-class range. The purpos es of this investigation were (1) to test whether or not differences e xist between high school and college students' perceptions of one form of male sexually aggressive behavior against women, (2) to determine if differences exist between male and female students' perceptions of such behavior against women, and (3) to explore the sex role socializa tion theory by providing empirical observation of its basic tenets. Fi ndings suggested that boys may experience slower maturation and develo pment of sensitivity toward sexual aggression than girls, but that thi s gap may lessen with advancing age for college males.