Momentary versus retrospective sexual consent perceptions

Willis, M. and Jozkowski, K. N. (2022) Momentary versus retrospective sexual consent perceptions. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(2), pp. 811-819. (doi: 10.1007/s10508-021-02182-7) (PMID:34853977) (PMCID:PMC8888468)

Abstract

Perceiving potential indicators of a person’s willingness is an integral component of sexual consent. Preliminary qualitative evidence using vignettes suggested that consent perceptions can change over the course of a sexual scenario. In the present study, we extended previous research by directly comparing momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions using a quantitative study design. Employing a staggered vignette protocol, we examined participants’ (n = 962; 72.0% female) momentary perceptions of fictional characters’ sexual consent and compared them with participants’ retrospective perceptions of the characters’ consent. We hypothesized that participants would demonstrate a hindsight bias in that they would retrospectively indicate they thought the fictional characters were first willing to engage in sexual behavior earlier than when they did momentarily. We found that differences in participants’ momentary versus retrospective perceptions of characters’ sexual consent varied by the type of behavior. As we expected, participants demonstrated a hindsight bias for making out. Contrary to our hypothesis, participants were hesitant to retrospectively report that the characters were willing to engage in the other sexual behaviors (e.g., oral, vaginal, anal sex) at a point earlier than their momentary perceptions. That momentary and retrospective sexual consent perceptions significantly differ corroborates previous recommendations that sexual consent be conceptualized as an ongoing process.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Willis, Dr Malachi
• Authors: Willis, M., and Jozkowski, K. N.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Archives of Sexual Behavior
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0004-0002
• ISSN (Online): 1573-2800
• Published Online: 01 December 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Archives of Sexual Behavior 51(2): 811-819
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License