Does Knowledge about Sexuality Prevent Adolescents from Developing Rape-Supportive Beliefs?
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| Title: | Does Knowledge about Sexuality Prevent Adolescents from Developing Rape-Supportive Beliefs? |
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| Authors: | Mallet, Pascal (AUTHOR), Herbé, Dominique (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Sex Research. Jul/Aug2011, Vol. 48 Issue 4, p372-380. 9p. 3 Charts. |
| Subjects: | Rape, Teenager attitudes, Adolescent psychology, Sex education, Sex crimes, Grade point average, Sexual ethics, Gender differences (Psychology) in adolescence |
| Abstract: | Believing that rape is acceptable in some situations may account for adolescent boys' perpetration of forced sex on girls. This study was intended to examine two hypothesized cognitive factors of adolescents' rape-supportive beliefs: general knowledge, measured with grade point average (GPA); and specific knowledge about sexuality, measured with a newly devised questionnaire. Fourteen-year-old adolescents (N = 248) participated in a short-term longitudinal study. They completed questionnaires designed to assess sexual knowledge and rape-supportive beliefs, and six months later completed them again. Sexual knowledge increased sharply between Time 1 and Time 2, whereas rape-supportive beliefs decreased during the same time. Boys obtained higher rape-supportive belief scores than girls. Regression analyses showed that sexual knowledge significantly predicted the level of rape-supportive beliefs six months later, independent of GPA and sex of participants. GPA accounted for a greater part of the variance in rape-supportive beliefs. This article discusses the importance of paying attention to the level of academic achievement of adolescents, as well as to their sexuality-specific knowledge, as a way of improving the efficiency of programs specializing in the prevention of adolescent sexual violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Sex Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Believing that rape is acceptable in some situations may account for adolescent boys' perpetration of forced sex on girls. This study was intended to examine two hypothesized cognitive factors of adolescents' rape-supportive beliefs: general knowledge, measured with grade point average (GPA); and specific knowledge about sexuality, measured with a newly devised questionnaire. Fourteen-year-old adolescents (N = 248) participated in a short-term longitudinal study. They completed questionnaires designed to assess sexual knowledge and rape-supportive beliefs, and six months later completed them again. Sexual knowledge increased sharply between Time 1 and Time 2, whereas rape-supportive beliefs decreased during the same time. Boys obtained higher rape-supportive belief scores than girls. Regression analyses showed that sexual knowledge significantly predicted the level of rape-supportive beliefs six months later, independent of GPA and sex of participants. GPA accounted for a greater part of the variance in rape-supportive beliefs. This article discusses the importance of paying attention to the level of academic achievement of adolescents, as well as to their sexuality-specific knowledge, as a way of improving the efficiency of programs specializing in the prevention of adolescent sexual violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00224499 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00224491003794048 |
