Date of Submission
5-9-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Advisor
Tracy Tamborra
Keywords
acquiescence, ascription of responsibility, gender, verbal assertiveness, relationship status
LCSH
acquiescence, responsibility, man-woman relationships, assertiveness in women
Abstract
Acquiesced sex is “consenting to and engaging in undesired sexual activity” (Benoit & Ronis, 2022, p. 577). Research has found that perceptions of acquiesced sex are related to demographic variables, such as gender, and conditions, such as the relationship status of actors in a vignette. The present study considers whether variables such as gender and verbal assertiveness of the research participant affects ascription of responsibility for acquiesced heterosexual sex across two conditions (stranger and dating couple). Data were collected through an online survey administered to undergraduate and graduate University of New Haven students. Results indicate that participants' gender, general assertiveness, and adaptive assertiveness are not related to ascription of responsibility. Aggressive assertiveness was correlated with greater ascription of responsibility to the acquiescing female. In addition, participants assigned the stranger condition were more likely to view the sex as coercive. Participants who had experienced unwanted sex were found to ascribe less responsibility to the acquiescing female. This study provides direction for future research that seeks to measure acquiesced sex.
Recommended Citation
Carvalho, Catherine, "How Gender, Verbal Assertiveness, and Relationship Status Correlate to the Ascription of Responsibility in Sexual" (2025). Honors Theses. 108.
https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/honorstheses/108