Men's self‐reports of unwanted sexual activity

TLDR

The study discusses the double standard in male and female sexuality and its therapeutic implications. The study examined men's experiences of unwanted sexual activity driven by physical or psychological pressure or societal expectations. Researchers administered a 51‑item questionnaire to 507 men and 486 women, then used factor analysis to group items into 13 reasons and compared gender differences. Women reported higher overall rates of unwanted sexual activity, whereas men reported higher rates of unwanted intercourse; gender differences emerged in specific reasons, with women more often citing five reasons and men citing two (peer pressure, desire for popularity), and all eight reasons for unwanted intercourse were more common among men.

Abstract

We investigated men's experience with unwanted sexual activity—including unwanted kissing, petting, or intercourse—engaged in because of physical or psychological pressure or from societal expectations about male sexuality. We developed a questionnaire asking if respondents had ever engaged in unwanted sexual activity for any of 51 reasons. This questionnaire was administered to 507 men and 486 women. More women (97.5%) than men (93.5%) had experienced unwanted sexual activity; more men (62.7%) than women (46.3%) had experienced unwanted intercourse. Using factor analysis, we grouped the 51 questionnaire items into 13 general reasons; we then compared percentages of men and women who had engaged in unwanted sexual activity for these 13 reasons. There were seven sex differences in reasons for unwanted sexual activity: Five were more frequent for women than men; two reasons were more frequent for men than women—peer pressure and desire for popularity. There were eight sex differences in reasons for unwanted intercourse; more men than women had engaged in unwanted intercourse for all eight. The double standard for male and female sexuality and implications for therapy are discussed.