Perceptions of women's sexual interest and acquaintance rape - The role ofsexual overperception and affective attitudes

Rape prevention and education efforts often focus on the need for clear com munication regarding sexual intent between women and men. This approach is based on the underlying assumption that acquaintance rape is a relational i ssue resulting from miscommunication. Findings from two studies challenge t hat assumption. The first study demonstrates that men who self-report engag ing in sexually aggressive behavior are significantly more likely to misper ceive women's sexual intent than other men or women. The second study demon strates that the cognitive, rather than affective, components of rape-suppo rtive attitudes contribute to sexualized interpretations of women's behavio r. Thus, it appears that the tendency to rely on miscommunication as a fram ework for understanding sexual assault may be deflecting attention from sex ual overperceptions and the affectively based information processing among men who engage in sexually assaultive behavior.