Funcionamento interpessoal em mulheres que recorrem a estratégias sexualmente agressivas : um estudo numa amostra universitária

Abstract

The goal was to study the prevalence of sexually aggressive behaviors in female college students and to test for differences in levels of Intimacy, Social Safeness, and Loneliness between sexually aggressive and non-aggressive women. A sample of 331 participants answered to self-response questionnaires. To compare the sexually aggressive and non-aggressive women, a MANOVA was performed. To test the predictor effect of Intimacy and Loneliness on sexual aggressive behaviors, a Multiple Linear Regression was performed. The results showed that 33.5% of participants have resorted to sexually aggressive strategies. Among these, 60.4% have resorted to sexual abuse, 55% to sexual coercion and 10.8% to physical force. Differences between groups were found for Factor 1 (Personal Validation) and total score of Intimacy and Loneliness. In Personal Validation and the total score of Intimacy, sexually aggressive women had lower mean values. In Loneliness, sexually aggressive women had higher mean values in comparison with the control group. The results showed that the predictor variables explained 5.1% of the variance of sexually aggressive behaviors. Difficulties in establishing intimate relationships and feelings of loneliness seem to play an important role in predisposing female college students to sexually aggressive behaviors.

Date of Award	2019
Original language	Portuguese
Supervisor	JOANA PATRÍCIA PEREIRA CARVALHO (Supervisor)