Strength of Associations between Psychological Predictors of Sexual Aggression and Self-Reported Aggression/Coercion in Latinx versus Non-Hispanic Ethnicity

Sexual aggression is a serious problem worldwide. In North America one-fifth to one-third of women consistently report victimization experiences, and recent research suggests similar numbers for men. Sexual aggression leads to a variety of negative psychological, health, and economic consequences and has been linked to various problematic cognitive variables including conformity to gender role norms, attitudes toward violence and coercion, beliefs about sexual consent, and others. These variables are shaped and maintained by culture. We explored whether the strength of associations between these variables and indicators of sexual aggression varied between Latinx and White non-Hispanic individuals.

An online survey was administered to students from (a) a Hispanic Serving Institution in the US-Mexico border region (N=619) and (b) a university in the northeastern US (N=355). Sixty percent reported Latinx heritage and 33% white non-Hispanic ethnicity. The sample was 27.7% male, 71.8% female, and 0.5% non-binary or not reported.

Aggression-related variables included acceptance of interpersonal violence, belief in scripted refusal, belief in the opposite sex as fundamentally unknowable and fundamentally other, callous sexual attitudes, and adversarial relationship beliefs. Sexual aggression and coercion were assessed with items derived from Malamuth’s (1988) attraction to sexual aggression scale and Knight’s (2013) agonistic continuum. Additionally, measures of conformity to gender roles were administered.

Using regression analysis and structural equation modeling we compared the strength of relationships between sexual aggression/coercion and aggression-related variables in Latinx versus white non-Hispanic participants. Implications for future research will be discussed.