Date of Award
8-1-2003
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in Psychology
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Alan M. Gross
Second Advisor
Carol Gohm
Third Advisor
Tom Lombardo
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Misperception of sexual cues and alcohol consumption have been demonstrated to be risk factors for date rape. According to alcohol myopia theory (Steele & Josephs, 1990), when a person consumes alcohol, the resulting cognitive impairment causes the person to become “myopic”, attending only to cues that are most salient. This occurs when there is a conflict between inhibitory and disinhibitory cues, such as in a date rape situation. Therefore, when disinhibitory cues to sexual contact are most salient, the drinker would focus attention toward these cues, resulting in excessive behavior, such as inappropriate sexual behavior. There has been some support for a positive form of alcohol myopia. That is, when inhibitory cues are increased in their salience to persons consuming alcohol, the resulting behavior is similar to, or more “prudent” than, those who have not consumed alcohol (MacDonald, Fong, Zanna, & Martineau, 2000). Women’s verbal refusals are inhibitory cues to date rape. This study explored whether increasing the strength of inhibitory sexual cues in a date rape situation resulted in a positive alcohol myopia in a sample of college men.
A 3 (beverage condition) by 2 (strength of a woman’s verbal refusal) placebo design was used to evaluate the impact of alcohol consumption and a woman’s verbal refusals on men’s ability to discriminate when sexual advances should cease in a date rape scenario. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three beverage conditions: (1) Alcohol group (expect alcohol — receive alcohol); (2) Placebo group (expect alcohol — do not receive alcohol); and (3) Control group (do not expect alcohol — do not receive alcohol) and to one of two refusal conditions: (1) Strong refusal (waiting until marriage) and (2) Weak refusal (too early in the relationship). Participants listened to an audiotaped depiction of a date rape and signaled when they determined that the man on the tape should cease sexual advances. Depending on their assigned refusal condition, participants heard either a strong verbal refusal or weak refusal by the woman on the tape when she first refuses sexual advances. Participants also completed questionnaires related to their sexual coercion history and sex-related alcohol expectancies.
A 2 (Alcohol Vs. No Alcohol) x 2 (Strong vs. Weak refusal cue) analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using response latency of the participants as the dependent variable. A significant difference in response latency was not observed between intoxicated men and sober men. There was not a significant difference between men who heard the strong and weak refusals. A one-tailed t-test comparing intoxicated men to sober men within the weak refusal revealed no significant differences in response latencies. Contrary to expectations, a positive alcohol myopia was not supported; a one-tailed t-test comparing intoxicated men who heard the strong cue with sober men who heard the weak cue revealed no significant difference. However, the lack of difference between the refusal cues and between intoxicated and sober participants may reflect this phenomenon. More research is needed to clarify the findings. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Winslett, Andrea H., "The effects of alcohol and a woman's refusal on men's ability to discriminate inappropriate sexual behavior in a date rape scenario." (2003). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3195.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/3195
Concentration/Emphasis
Clinical Psychology