50 Shades of Black and White

An Examination of how University Students Perceive Sexual Encounters when Consent is Depicted as Ambiguous

Abstract

Educational campaigns about sexual consent stress it should be a clearly established, direct, enthusiastic process. However, consent is often communicated nonverbally and indirectly. Consequently, individuals are likely faced with ambiguity about the consensual status of an encounter. Prior experience and contextual or social cues are sources of information we recruit to resolve ambiguity. This study investigated how university students perceive a heterosexual encounter where consent is not unequivocal. We examined whether contextual and gender role typicality influenced both intuitive and legal perceptions of consent. Participants read a short story describing a male-female sexual interaction. Context (Harlequin romance, BDSM romance, and campus Netflix ‘n Chill) and gender of the more sexually-assertive partner were manipulated between subjects. Participants responded to a number of open- and close-ended questions assessing how consensual the encounter was, how consent was communicated, whether the exchange met the legal definition of consent, and how the characters in the story were perceived. All encounters were rated as strongly consensual (> 5.5 out of 7), regardless of context or gender role typicality. Subjects’ sex at birth was related to perceived consent, with males rating encounters as significantly more consensual. Many subjects perceived the consent to be directly and verbally communicated. Yet, many also endorsed the position that one or both parties could later declare it was not consensual. Inconsistencies or overestimations in judgements of consent may result from judgments based on cognitive ability of similar encounters, or from established norms where absence of a verbal no considered sufficient.

Discipline: Psychology (Honours)

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aimee Skye