Research Findings On Sexually Aggressive Women

Men’s sexual aggression is a pervasive problem on college campuses. For example, in one large national study, approximately 15-20% of college women reported experiencing forced intercourse. In contrast, the idea of women’s sexual aggression challenges long-held beliefs about women’s sexual behavior.
In a study of psycho-sexual characteristics related to women’s sexual aggression, researchers measured, among other traits, sexual esteem, satisfaction, preoccupation, motivation, anxiety, and fear. Sexual esteem is the tendency to positively evaluate one’s sexuality. Satisfaction is the tendency to be satisfied with the sexual aspects of one’s life. Preoccupation is the tendency to become absorbed with sexual thoughts. Motivation is the desire to be involved in sexual relationships. Anxiety is the tendency to feel tension about sexuality. Fear is the fear of engaging in sexual relations with another person.

These characteristics were compared with four levels of sexual initiation: no initiation, persuasion, non-physical coercion, and physical force. Persuasion included behaviors such as giving massages, dancing seductively, and wearing clothing or perfume expected to be arousing. Non-physical coercion included psychological or verbal pressure (for example, lying, using your position of power or authority, or questioning someone’s sexuality) to initiate sexual contact. Physical force included the threat or use of physical force (for example, hitting or holding down) to gain sexual access.

Women engaging in no initiation behaviors reported lower sexual esteem and satisfaction than all other groups. Women using physical force reported higher sexual esteem than all other groups and statistically higher sexual satisfaction than those with no initiation or those using non-physical coercion. The sexual esteem result for women with no initiation is logical. Women who lack sexual esteem would, logically, be less likely to initiate sexual activity than women who have high sexual esteem. Similarly, a lack of initiation may lead to a lack of satisfaction by not making the choice of who you want to have sex with, and settling instead for the person who chooses you. Women who used physical force to obtain sex were deemed more secure in their sexuality because they scored higher on sexual esteem and satisfaction. Could this also be true for men who use physical force to obtain sex? This is a troubling result that deserves more study.

Subjects using physical force also reported higher preoccupation and motivation than all other groups. Subjects using non-physical coercion reported higher sexual preoccupation and motivation than those using persuasion. This result represents a progression of sexual motivation and preoccupation that translates to a progression of sexual strategies from persuasion to physical force. Women in this study who were more preoccupied with sex and more motivated to be involved in sexual relationships were also more willing to use more aggressive sexual strategies. There is a common belief that men are significantly more sexually motivated than women and therefore more aggressive. This result indicates that women are also sexually motivated and preoccupied, and that these psycho-sexual characteristics are related to their level of sexual aggression.

Women with no initiation and those who used physical force did not score higher on sexual anxiety and fear of sexual relationships than those who used persuasion or non-physical coercion. This result would indicate that motivation and preoccupation are more likely related to sexual aggression than anxiety and fear of sexual relationships. It is not that sexually aggressive women are avoiding relationships as much as they are pursuing sex with or without a relationship.

Source: www.loveandhealth.info