Are our recruitment practices for sex studies working across gender? The effect of topic and gender of recruiter on participation rates of universitymen and women

The current study, examined some of the factors that may contribute to the low rates of participation of male versus female students in sexual coercio n research. Specifically, we tested whether recruitment rates are adversely affected by, the topic of the research or the gender of the recruiter Intr oductory psychology classes were randomly, assigned to a male or female rec ruiter and to either the memory or sex research condition. Three significan t predictors assisted in differentiating students who signed up for the stu dies from those who did not. Overall, female students were more likely to v olunteer to participate. In addition, all students were more likely, to sig n tip for the sex research, especially, when they were recruited by a male research assistant. This study, confirmed our hypothesis that men are not v olunteering to participate at a rate equal to their enrollment. However thi s problem appears to be a general concern for all researchers who use simil ar recruitment practices rather than specifically for researchers of sexual coercion.