Personality and attitudinal characteristics of sexually coercive college males.

To identify the characteristics of male participants in coercive sexual activities, 190 college males completed a survey of their involvement in coercive sexual behavior and a battery of measures selected to reflect conceptually relevant dimensions of coercive sexuality, including the short form of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale and the scales from the California Psychological Inventory. Consistent with reports in the literature, Ss reported being involved in a wide spectrum of sexually coercive behaviors. The degree of involvement in sexually coercive behavior covaried with personality measures of irresponsibility, a lack of social conscience, and a value orientation legitimizing aggression, particularly against women. Data suggest that these characterological features were necessary to potentiate the general cultural context of coercive sexuality into personally coercive sexual behavior. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)