Predictors of sexual aggression in adolescents: Gender dominance vs. rape supportive attitudes

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between sexual double standard and rape supportive attitudes in regard to an individual's likelihood to perpetrate sexual aggression. We examined an adolescent sample of 448 boys from Peru, of whom 148 (33.3%) reported to have committed sexual aggression. Sexual contact with an unwilling partner was perpetrated by 24.8% of the total sample, sexual coercion by 14.3%, attempted rape by 12.5%, and finally, rape was perpetrated by 10.3%. In all these types of aggression, the most frequent victim was a dating partner. Compared to non-aggressors, male aggressors reported more sexual double standard and supportive attitudes towards rape. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the most relevant variable in the prediction of sexual aggression was the subject having been a victim of sexual abuse during adolescence and having rape supportive attitudes. Our findings suggest that violent attitudes are more important than the endorsement of non-egalitarian beliefs (sexual double standard) in the perpetration of sexual violence. These findings provide data from Peru, which contribute to the worldwide data on risk factors for sexual aggression in adolescent males.

Keywords

• Sexual aggression
• Sexual double standard
• Rape attitudes
• Adolescents