An online study of male undergraduates shows that more than
half of study participants on intercollegiate and recreational athletic teams - and more than a third of non-athletes - reported engaging in sexual coercion, including rape. The increased risk of sexual coercion by athletes was linked to "traditional" beliefs about women and a higher belief in rape "myths," which are used to justify sexual assault.
Previous research has shown that
male college athletes are more likely than college students in general to commit sexual violence or engage in sexual coercion. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education called for colleges and universities to institute efforts to educate athletes and address
sexual violence.
"We wanted to know what these programs need to address," says Sarah Desmarais, an associate professor of psychology at North Carolina State University and co-author of a paper on the recent study. "What are the factors that contribute to these higher rates of
sexual assault? And are these issues confined to intercollegiate athletes, or do they extend to club and intramural athletes?"
For this study, the researchers surveyed online 379 male undergraduates: 191 non-athletes, 29 intercollegiate athletes and 159 recreational athletes. The study was conducted by researchers at NC State, the University of South Florida, Northern Arizona University and Emory University.
Study participants were asked about their sexual behavior, their attitudes toward women, and the degree to which they believed in rape myths.
"We found that
54.3 percent of the intercollegiate and recreational athletes and 37.9 percent of non-athletes had engaged in sexually coercive behaviors - almost all of which met the legal definition of rape," Desmarais says.
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