This study investigated gender differences in cognitions of sexual submission as well as their association with sexual violence. Participants were 292 heterosexual undergraduate students who completed a 56-item checklist assessing positive and negative sexual cognitions; they also completed measures assessing experiences of sexual abuse in childhood, experiences of sexual coercion in adulthood, and use of sexual coercion. Two 10-item sexual submission subscales were developed from the checklist. One reflected how often respondents had experienced the sexual submission items as positive. The other reflected how often these items were experienced as negative. When overall frequency of sexual cognitions was controlled, compared to the men, the women reported a significantly greater frequency of both positive and negative cognitions of sexual submission. Submission cognitions were more often negative for women and were more often positive for men. Men and women who had experienced sexual abuse in childhood reported more frequent positive sexual submission cognitions but not more negative sexual submission cognitions. Conversely, men and women who had experienced sexual coercion in adulthood reported more frequent negative sexual submission cognitions but not more positive sexual submission cognitions. Having used sexual coercion was associated with more frequent positive cognitions of sexual submission for both men and women. Implications for the proposed links between sexual violence and preferences for cognitions of sexual submission are discussed.
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Acknowledgements
This research was part of the doctoral dissertation of the first author under the supervision of the second author. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the Department of Justice. The authors sincerely thank David Clark, Richard Nicki, and the University of New Brunswick sexuality research group for their helpful comments throughout the research process, and Jeff Morrison for his assistance with data collection.
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Appendix
Appendix
Items included in the Cognitions of Sexual Submission Subscale of the Sexual Cognitions Checklist
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Engaging in sexual act with someone who has authority over me
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Being pressured into engaging in sex
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Being forced to do something sexually
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Being overwhelmed by a stranger's sexual advances
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Being sexually victimized
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Being whipped or spanked
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Engaging in a sexual act which I would not want to do because it violates my religious principles
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Being hurt by a partner
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Being tied up
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Being seduced as an “innocent”
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Renaud, C.A., Byers, S.E. Positive and Negative Cognitions of Sexual Submission: Relationship to Sexual Violence. Arch Sex Behav 35, 483–490 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9046-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9046-2