Against their will: Young women's nonagentic sexual experiences

Abstract

This study introduces the notion of nonagentic sexual interaction and presents findings describing its prevalence, characteristics, and consequences among a representative sample of 566 undergraduate women. One third of respondents reported one or more nonagentic sexual interactions during a single academic year, and more than half of the senior respondents reported one or more interactions during their college careers. Relations between these interactions' behavioral characteristics and four psychological outcome measures provide limited empirical support for the notion that interactions involving a higher degree of physical intrusion and more forceful tactics are more distressing than those involving less intrusion and more subtle tactics. Narrative accounts illustrate the complexity of these interactions. Implications of nonagentic sexual experiences for healthy sexuality development are discussed.