I just read the paper, and I'm not entirely satisfied with either mini-précis in the 2 toots above, or indeed the researchers' own framing.

"A sample of 3,011 self-identified men ages 18 to 34 (Mage = 27.31) was recruited in the Spring of 2023 using an online panel (Qualtrics Research Suite) that invited all men who met criteria into the study. The study was described as exploring positive and negative interactions between men and women in sexual situations. The consent form indicated that the survey was men’s opportunity “to provide their side of the story given that we have heard so much from women” about male–female sexual interactions, repeatedly assuring them of their guaranteed anonymity. ...

"Men were eligible if they self-identified as men, were in the age range 18 to 34 years, and reported having had a sexual encounter with a woman in the past 2 years. ...

"Participants were asked “In the past four years, how many times have you used any of the following strategies to get (or try to get) a woman to have some type of sex when she did not want to have sex or acted like she did not want to have sex? (Only women you have recently met—no sex or dating history with them beforehand).”"

So, @gabriel - yes the researchers were focusing on pressure tactics, but this cohort wasn't recruited _from_ people who _already_ said they had pressured women into sex.

On the other hand, @amydiehl, I think the "sexual encounter with a woman in the past 2 years" criterion is a significant distinction from men-of-that-age in general, because there will be men who aren't using the pressure tactics and _haven't_ had sex with a woman in the last 2 years - and those seem to me quite obviously _not_ independent variables. Young men who are just chilling with their friends, or who are "waiting for the right person", or indeed who are isolated and unhappy and never leave their house, simply aren't part of this cohort.

For this reason, even though the paper says
"RQ1: What proportion of men report a history of using strategies to force a woman to have sex?" ... I don't see how they think they're measuring that.

It's still valuable for the list of tactics and the relative prevalence of the tactics in relation to each other. And it does of course show that there are thousands of blokes who think it's okay to push reluctant women into sex, which is yikesy enough.

Open to contradiction if I've read it wrong!

#stats #sex #coercion