| dc.description.abstract | Recent research has found that many women are being forced or persuaded to engage in unwanted sexual activity. Are men ever forced or persuaded to engage in unwanted sexual activity? If so, how often, and why?
In a pilot study, about 100 men completed open-ended questionnaires asking them to describe instances in which they engaged in sexual activity (kissing, petting, or intercourse) when they did not want to. Using their descriptions, we constructed an objective questionnaire that asked respondents whether they had ever engaged in unwanted sexual activity for any of 51 different reasons. This questionnaire was completed by 507 men and--for purposes of comparison--486 women. These subjects also completed several attitudinal questionnaires so that we could assess attitudes related to various reasons for engaging in unwanted sexual activity.
93.5% of the men and 97.5% of the women had engaged in unwanted kissing, petting, or sexual intercourse; 62.7% of the men and 46.3% of the women had been involved in unwanted sexual intercourse. A factor analysis was performed to divide the 51 reasons for unwanted sexual activity into 13 broader categories. Thirteen chi square analyses were done to compare the percentages of men versus women who had engaged in unwanted sexual activity or unwanted sexual intercourse because of the 13 factors. For unwanted sexual activity (which included kissing, petting, or intercourse), 7 of the 13 analyses were significant. Women experienced more unwanted sexual activity for five of these reasons, men experienced more unwanted sexual activity for only two of these reasons: peer pressure and popularity. Eight of the 13 analyses involving unwanted sexual intercourse were significant, with more men than women having unwanted sexual intercourse because of all 3 factors. | en |
