Evidence That Pervasive Body Gaze Behavior in Heterosexual Men Is a Social Marker for Implicit, Physiological, and Explicit Sexual Assault Propensities.
Arch Sex Behav
; 2024 Jul 24.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39048779
ABSTRACT
Deliberate and effortful attempts to gaze at the bodies of women is emerging as a valuable marker of sexual objectification in men. Some preliminary evidence suggests that pervasive body gaze behavior may also accompany insidious attitudes which can facilitate sexual assault. The present study aimed to further explore this potential by examining pervasive body gaze associations with explicit, implicit, and physiological sexual assault propensity measures. We presented 110 heterosexual male participants with images of fully and partially dressed women with and without injuries while measuring their skin conductance responses. We also captured implicit and explicit sexual assault measures in addition to self-reported pervasive body gaze behavior. Pervasive body gaze behavior was significantly correlated with rape myth acceptance attitudes, prior perpetration of sexual assault, a stronger implicit association between erotica and aggression, and lower physiological reactivity during exposure to partially dressed injured women. These findings suggest that body gaze towards women could be a behavioral marker for inclinations to victim blame, preferences for rough sexual conduct, and a physiological desensitization towards female victims. This study further validates a five item self-reported body gaze measure as a valuable tool for detecting deviant sexual objectification attitudes and affective states. As such, measurement and observation of body gaze behavior could be useful for developing risk assessments, estimating intervention efficacy, and enhancing public awareness.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Arch Sex Behav
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Australia
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos