LE3 .A278 2013

2013

Price, Lisa

Acadia University

Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Honours

Applied Psychology

Psychology

Recent research suggests dating violence, including incidences of sexual coercion, is problematic in adolescent dating relationships (Sears, Byers & Price, 2006). Researchers have found that between 9% and 30% of youth have been involved in an incident of dating violence, whether it be victimization or perpetration (Knox, Lomonaco, & Alpert, 2009; Swahn et al., 2008; Tyler & Melander, 2012). A study conducted by Sears et al. (2006) was especially beneficial in outlining the co-occurrence of psychologically, physically, and sexually abusive behaviours in the dating relationships of adolescents. The current study was a partial replication of Sears et al.'s study using a university-aged population. It was hypothesized that a general aggression variate, which includes sexual aggression, as well as a sexual but not psychological variate would be found. Additionally, the added component of attachment was analyzed in this study in order to deduce if there was a relationship between sexual coercion and specific attachment styles in university-aged males. A total of 122 male undergraduate university students took part in this study. Canonical correlation analyses were used to examine the relationship between the risk factors and male university students’ use of sexual coercion. It was concluded that men who reported being more psychologically and physically aggressive also tended to exhibit hostile attitudes toward women, as well as experience more physical victimization in their relationships. Results also indicated that men who reported being more psychologically aggressive only tended to report experiencing both psychological and sexual victimization. Lastly, men who were more sexually aggressive also tended to report having an avoidant attachment pattern, in addition to experiencing sexual victimization in their dating relationships.

The author retains copyright in this thesis. Any substantial copying or any other actions that exceed fair dealing or other exceptions in the Copyright Act require the permission of the author.

https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:953