Female sexual aggression on college campuses: Prevalence, correlates, and perceptions

Abstract

Research in the last 15 years has identified the ways in which college-aged women are sexually aggressive in their interpersonal relationships. The goal of this chapter is to review the growing literature on college-aged women's perpetration of sexually aggressive behaviors. This includes a review of the prevalence rates for various types of female-perpetrated sexually aggressive strategies. We then consider the personality, attitudinal, and behavioral traits of sexually aggressive women in order to gain insight into why women engage in these behaviors. Furthermore, we examine how gender stereotypes relate to public perceptions of sexually aggressive women and consider the implications of sexual aggression perpetrated by women.