The proposed research is designed to examine heterosocial perception as a potential mediator of the relationship between alcohol intoxication and sexual violence perpetration. Structural equation models have revealed that frequency of sexual misperception mediates the path from alcohol use to sexual violence history (Abbey, McAuslan, & Ross, 1998). The research planned will explore men's sexual perception of women using mathematical performance models of simple perception to model feature integrality of women's affect and provocative dress cues. A within-person alcohol challenge study is planned to examine the influence of acute alcohol intoxication on heterosocial perception and the degree of feature integration. Individual differences in model parameters will be used to predict sexual aggression status. Based on previous research, it is expected that alcohol intoxication and sexual aggression history will be positively associated with feature integrality. The results of the proposed research may provide the data necessary to improve the limited efficacy of sexual violence prevention programs. The ability to target behaviors and categorization styles more closely linked to aggression may improve long-term outcome.
| Farris, Coreen; Viken, Richard J; Treat, Teresa A (2010) Perceived association between diagnostic and non-diagnostic cues of women's sexual interest: General Recognition Theory predictors of risk for sexual coercion. J Math Psychol 54:137-149 |
| Farris, Coreen; Treat, Teresa A; Viken, Richard J (2010) Alcohol alters men's perceptual and decisional processing of women's sexual interest. J Abnorm Psychol 119:427-32 |
| Farris, Coreen; Treat, Teresa A; Viken, Richard J et al. (2008) Sexual coercion and the misperception of sexual intent. Clin Psychol Rev 28:48-66 |
| Farris, Coreen; Treat, Teresa A; Viken, Richard J et al. (2008) Perceptual mechanisms that characterize gender differences in decoding women's sexual intent. Psychol Sci 19:348-54 |
| Farris, Coreen; Viken, Richard J; Treat, Teresa A et al. (2006) Heterosocial perceptual organization: application of the choice model to sexual coercion. Psychol Sci 17:869-75 |
