Does the affirmative consent standard increase the accuracy of sexual assault perceptions? It depends on how you learn about the standard.

OBJECTIVE: Colleges and universities are increasingly adopting affirmative consent standards of sexual assault, in which consent is defined as conscious and voluntary "yeses" given throughout a sexual interaction. We examined the impact of affirmative consent standards on perceptions of assault and consent. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that in sexual assault scenarios involving physical force or verbal coercion, exposure to the consent standard would increase perceptions of assault and decrease perceptions of consent relative to not being exposed to the standard. We then explored whether dehumanization of the perpetrator or the victim mediates the association between assault type and sexual assault perceptions and how this relation changes on the basis of exposure to the affirmative consent standard. METHOD: We exposed 909 participants (predominantly women: n = 574; predominantly White: n = 677; age: M = 28.61 years, SD = 11.10; students: n = 363, Mechanical Turk workers: n = 546) to an affirmative consent standard in a written policy, a video using a "cup-of-tea" metaphor to describe the consent standard, or no information on the standard. Participants rated perceptions of assault, consent, and dehumanization of a man and woman involved in a sexual interaction involving physical force, verbal coercion, or a consensual agreement. RESULTS: Participants who saw the affirmative consent video were more likely to perceive physical assault as assault compared with participants in the no-exposure control condition. Participants who read the affirmative consent definition were no more or less likely to perceive physical assault as sexual assault compared with participants in the control condition. Participants exposed to the text definition perceived the consensual interaction as more assaultive than did participants in the video and control conditions. Perpetrator dehumanization also emerged as a mediator of the relation between assault type and assault perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that exposure to consent standards sometimes aids sexual assault decision-making but also leads to confusion, even in scenarios in which consent is normally discernable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The development and psychometric evaluation of the Objectification Perpetration Scale.

While the literature has shown that sexually objectifying women leads to negative outcomes for the target and perceiver, measures of objectification perpetration are often adaptations of measures designed to assess targets' self-objectification or reported experiences of objectifying behaviors. In the present article, we introduce the Objectification Perpetration Scale (OPS) that assesses not only men's perpetration of objectifying behaviors directed toward women but also their objectifying cognitions and beliefs. Data from 855 men were collected across two studies. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in the first sample revealed two distinct factors and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the second, independent sample, supported the factor structure of the newly developed 16-item OPS, including: sex-based (10 items) and appearance-based (6 items) objectification perpetration. Supporting its construct validity, scores on the OPS and the subscales were positively associated with scores on other measures of objectification perpetration, measures of sexual violence perpetration, and sexual exchange and misogynistic ideologies. The OPS contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the objectification perpetration phenomenon, including objectification that reduces women to either their sexual appeal or appearance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Interpersonal Sexual Objectification in Heterosexual Intimate Partner Violence From Perspectives of Perceivers and Targets.

Sexual objectification is a subtle manifestation of sexist discrimination and violence against women that involves seeing and treating women as sex objects of male sexual desire. The primary aim of this research was to connect sexual objectification experiences with heterosexual intimate partner violence. This set of studies examined the impact of sexual objectification on intimate partner violence for both the female victim (Study 1) and the male perpetrator (Study 2). Female (Study 1) and male (Study 2) participants were asked to rate the extent they are victims or perpetrators of sexual objectification experiences and intimate partner violence. Moreover, women's self-silencing and men's ascriptions of humanity and empathy (through empathic concern and perspective taking) toward their partner was assessed. The results of the first study (including 154 heterosexual women) showed that general sexual objectification victimization indirectly leads to higher psychological and physical violence through the internalization of self-silence schemas. The second study (including 165 heterosexual men) demonstrated a link between general sexual objectification perpetration and psychological and physical intimate partner violence. Moreover, the relation between men's perpetration of objectification and intimate partner violence was mediated by ascriptions of humanity and empathic concern toward their female partner (but not through perspective taking toward her). Results of both studies demonstrate the effect of sexual objectification (as target or perpetrator) on global intimate partner violence and explain the different psychological mechanisms through which it takes place depending on the gendered perspective. Theoretical implications and practical considerations for interventions on intimate partner violence are discussed.

The Social Interaction Model of Objectification: A process model of goal-based objectifying exchanges between men and women.

People perceive and treat women as sex objects in social exchanges. The interaction processes through which women are objectified, however, have rarely been considered. To address this gap in the literature, we propose the Social Interaction Model of Objectification (SIMO). Rooted in social exchange and objectification theories, the SIMO predicts objectifying behaviours stemming from sexual goals between men and women. We propose that the behavioural dynamics of objectification can be understood through a series of goal-based exchange processes that are shaped by patriarchy. Articulating the SIMO and its predictions for behaviour in social interactions, we describe the scant social psychological studies in this area. Not only is the SIMO useful for understanding objectifying interaction processes, but it can be used to understand why women sometimes evaluate objectification positively as well as instances of sexual violence. Finally, we discuss critical directions for future research and provide promising methodological approaches for testing the SIMO.

How self-compassion moderates the effect of body surveillance on subjective happiness and depression among women.

According to objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), being treated as an object leads women to engage in self-objectification, which in turn increases body surveillance and body shame as well as impairs mental health. However, very little is known about what factors could act as buffers against the detrimental consequences of self-objectification. This paper seeks to understand the role of self-compassion (the ability to kindly accept oneself or show self-directed kindness while suffering) in the perception that women have of their own bodies. Results indicate that self-compassion moderated the effect of body surveillance on depression and happiness separately among women. More specifically, for women low in self-compassion, body surveillance was negatively associated with happiness, which was explained by increased depression. In sum, our results indicate that self-compassion protects against the detrimental consequences of body surveillance.

The Balanced Objectification Hypothesis: The Effects of Objectification Valence and Body Sentiment on Source Sentiment.

In this work, we introduced and tested the balanced objectification hypothesis (BOH). Derived from an integration of balance theory and objectification research, the BOH suggests that people seek psychological balance during objectifying interactions with others. Corresponding with the BOH, men and women perceived objectification sources as higher in warmth and intended to approach the objectification source more when they experienced complimentary objectification in conjunction with positive body sentiment (vs. negative body sentiment) and critical objectification in conjunction with negative body sentiment (vs. positive body sentiment) across four experiments. Self-other congruency emerged as a mediator and inconsistency between the content of the objectification experience and body sentiment (whether they were both focused on weight or sex appeal or not) emerged as a boundary condition, in line with the BOH. Theoretical implications and critical next steps for testing the BOH are discussed.

Further Validation of a Laboratory Analog Sexual Aggression Task: Associations With Novel Risk Factors for Sexual Violence.

Official crime statistics and self-reports of sexual aggression perpetration are limited by various factors (e.g., lack of reporting, social desirability bias), as well as an inability to use these measures in experimental studies of sexual aggression. To address these issues, Nagayama Hall et al. (1994) developed a laboratory analog measure of sexual aggression, which has received empirical support as a valid measure of sexual aggression proclivity. Here, we seek to replicate these findings and further validate the paradigm by examining sexually aggressive responses in relation to a range of recently emerging predictors of sexual aggression (e.g., sexual objectification, sexual narcissism) as well as participants' perceptions of a female confederate serving as the target of sexual aggression. A sample of 49 undergraduate men completed questionnaires and participated in the sexual aggression analog task. Results of logistic regression analyses supported both criterion and construct validity of the analog task; men who chose the sexually explicit video were more likely to report prior sexual aggression, greater sexual objectification of women, higher sexual narcissism, greater hostile sexism, and higher impersonal dating. These men were also more likely to express dehumanizing beliefs about the female confederate, consider her less intelligent, and believe she was more distressed by the video. These results replicate and extend prior research supporting this paradigm as a valid laboratory-based measure of sexual aggression proclivity that can be used in tandem with validated self-report measures.