Yes Means Yes but Does It Work?: an Empirical Investigation on the Performance of Affirmative Consent Policies on Heterosexual Sexual Assault Scenarios Kathryn Labore
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University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects 8-2018 Yes Means Yes But Does It Work?: An Empirical Investigation on the Performance of Affirmative Consent Policies on Heterosexual Sexual Assault Scenarios Kathryn LaBore Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation LaBore, Kathryn, "Yes Means Yes But Does It Work?: An Empirical Investigation on the Performance of Affirmative Consent Policies on Heterosexual Sexual Assault Scenarios" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 1147. https://commons.und.edu/theses/1147 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Head: Policy and Reporting of Sexual Assault YES MEANS YES BUT DOES IT WORK?: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF AFFIRMATIVE CONSENT POLICIES ON HETEROSEXUAL SEXUAL ASSAULT SCENARIOS by Kathryn LaBore Bachelor of Arts, Gonzaga University, 2012 Master of Arts, University of North Dakota, 2014 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota August 2018 Copyright 2018 Kathryn LaBore ii This dissertation, submitted by Kathryn LaBore in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. Kara Wettersten Sarah Edwards Heather Terrell Steven LeMire This dissertation is being submitted by the appointed advisory committee as having met all of the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota and is hereby approved. Wayne Swisher Dean of the Graduate School 7/11/2018 Date iii PERMISSION Title Yes Means Yes, but Does it Work?: An empirical investigation on the performance of affirmative consent policies on heterosexual sexual assault scenarios Department Counseling Psychology and Community Services Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my thesis dissertation work or, in her absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Kathryn LaBore 4/19/2018 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES.........................................................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................................................xiii ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................xiv CHAPTERS I. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study............................................................................................................6 Significant of the Investigation............................................................................................6 Summary of Research Questions.........................................................................................8 II. LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................9 Consent and Affirmative Consent…..................................................................................10 Consent..................................................................................................................11 Consent as a verbal or behavioral act........................................................11 Consent as a mental act .............................................................................13 Consent as a lack of action.........................................................................16 Analysis of Consent Communication as an Independent Variable........................17 Affirmative Consent and Communicative Sexuality Theory.................................17 Miscommunication theory.........................................................................19 Ambiguity as protecting sexual aggressors……........................................21 v Shifting the Burden of Proof......................................................................22 Limitations of Affirmative Consent...........................................................23 Analysis of Affirmative Consent Variations..........................................................24 Both verbal and behavioral........................................................................24 Either verbal or behavior...........................................................................26 Sexual Assault policy, identification, and reporting..........................................................27 Historical context of sexual assault policy.............................................................28 Sexual assault identification as a precursor to reporting.......................................32 Reporting................................................................................................................36 Reporting Barriers......................................................................................37 Reporting Behaviors..................................................................................39 Rape Myth Acceptance......................................................................................................41 Summary and objectives....................................................................................................43 Aims and hypothesis..............................................................................................44 III. METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................46 Study Design and Planned Analysis..................................................................................46 Participants.........................................................................................................................48 Measures............................................................................................................................51 Sexual Assault Identification.................................................................................51 Likelihood of Reporting.........................................................................................51 Acceptance of Modern Myths of Sexual Aggression............................................52 Materials............................................................................................................................52 vi Vignettes................................................................................................................52 Consent Definitions...............................................................................................53 Procedures..........................................................................................................................55 Manipulation Check and Data Cleaning............................................................................57 IV. RESULTS..........................................................................................................................59 Preliminary Analysis..........................................................................................................59 Normality...............................................................................................................59 Likelihood of Reporting.............................................................................60 Sexual Assault Identification.....................................................................61 Linear Relationship between Covariate and Dependent Variables........................51 Acceptance of Modern Myths of Sexual Aggression............................................63 Homogeneity of Variance......................................................................................69 Examination of Confounds between Independent Variables.................................69 Homogeneity of Regression Slope.........................................................................70 Primary Analysis................................................................................................................70 Research Question I................................................................................................71