COMPETING GOALS: THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS ON WOMEN\u27S JUDGMENTS OF AND RESPONSES TO SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION RISK

Researchers have identified many variables associated with the risk of sexual victimization among college women, including a previous history of sexual victimization and the ability to appraise and respond to victimization risk. Nurius and Norris (1996) included these and other variables in their theoretical model of factors influencing womens sexual victimization risk appraisal and response. The current study attempted to examine one part of that complex model, the role of social goals and expectations in women\u27s perceptions of and responses to victimization risk. The study also used a social information processing model to inform a task-based method of measuring women\u27s judgments of and responses to sexual victimization risk. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships between previous sexual victimization and social goals, sex-related beliefs, and women\u27s risk-related skills. College women\u27s social goals, particularly those related to affiliation and intimacy, were negatively related to their judgments of and responses to hypothetical situations with some level of risk for sexual victimization; women with greater affiliation motivation and intimacy relationship orientation, judged hypothetical scenarios to be less risky and generated and selected less effective responses as well. These goals were also related to women\u27s beliefs about the positive influence of alcohol on consensual sexual experiences. The study\u27s approach to measuring college women\u27s social goals and expectations increases understanding of the construct\u27s potential role in the process of judging and responding to risk for sexual victimization, while also providing a foundation from which to develop more nuanced measures of college women\u27s social goals and expectations. Further investigation of these relationships may help improve intervention and prevention of sexual victimization among college women