The effects of alcohol and cue salience on young men's acceptance of sexual aggression

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2008.11.016 Byline: Nora E. Noel (a), Stephen A. Maisto (b), James D. Johnson (c), Lee A. Jackson (c) Keywords: Sexual aggression; Alcohol administration; Need for Sexual Dominance; Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence; Heterosexual males Abstract: Research suggests that alcohol intoxication may increase a young man's likelihood of sexual aggression. This laboratory analogue experiment tested a disinhibition versus alcohol myopia explanation of alcohol's role by investigating effects of acute alcohol administration, expectations and individual differences drawn from Malamuth's Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression (i.e., Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence: AIV, Need for Sexual Dominance: NSD) on young men's acceptance of sexual aggression. Young adult heterosexual men (n =334) attended two laboratory sessions each. In the first, they completed screening and individual differences measures. In the second, they were assigned randomly to consume one of four beverages: Control, Placebo, Low Dose Alcohol (0.33 ml alcohol/kg body weight) or Moderate Dose Alcohol (0.75 ml/kg) and view one of two video-delivered scenario conditions: 'Anti-Force Cues' (scenario of a couple on a date with embedded explicit cues mitigating against forced sex) or 'No Cues' (Identical scenario with no Anti-Force cues). Participants then judged 1) should the man continue to force the woman to have sex? 2) would they force the woman? and 3) who was responsible for the outcome? Results supported a disinhibition versus alcohol myopia model. Consuming alcohol increased acceptance of sexual aggression. Further, higher NSD and AIV scores were associated with acceptance of forced sex, but only after alcohol consumption. Overall, findings showed that key individual difference factors from Malamuth's Confluence Model enhance precision of predicting sexual aggression risk by young men under the influence of alcohol. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, United States (b) Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, United States (c) Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, United States Article Note: (footnote) [star] This project was funded by a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant R01-AA13471 to Nora E. Noel. Preliminary findings have been presented at the Research Society on Alcoholism and the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy annual meetings. We thank Christopher Goings, Calvin Sims, Kendria Funches and Stephanie Kress, who supervised the BEACHlab; Alexander Cramond, Christopher DeLeon, Brett Hagman, Nina Hayhurst, Patrick Jones, Jason Stockdale and Justin Szymik, who functioned as Graduate Research Assistants (AKA 'Drink Mixers'); and numerous dedicated undergraduates (more than 30) who recruited and ran subjects, entered data and assisted in office tasks night after night for the four years this study took place. Their dedication and hard work were truly impressive.