Qualitative Analysis of College Men\u27s Perceptions of Sex

Objective: The goal of this study is to use qualitative analysis to explore college men’s understanding and perceptions of sexual activity. Background: College is understood to be a time for young adults to gain independence and explore new aspects and activities of life, including relationships and sexual activities. One problematic outcome of this exploration is sexual violence; 25% of college men perpetrate sexual violence of some type. To better understand the causes and experience of sexual violence, it is important to understand the way college men perceive sex and sexual activities. Subjects: The participants recruited were Kent State college men, n = 472. Methods: Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) was used to code college men’s responses to two questions: “How would you define sexual activity?” and “What does it mean to have sex?” Results: Nine major themes emerged: Methods, Language/Communications, Reasons for Sex, People Involved in Sex, Outcomes/Consequences, Experiential, Assumptions of Sex, Male-Centric View, and Imperatives. Each of these main themes contains multiple sub-themes. Discussion/ Conclusion: The emergence of multiple themes indicates the complexity of college men’s thinking regarding sexual activity. One of the major themes that emerged is male-centric thinking, which is characterized by responses placing emphasis only on the participants’s experience of sex and lacking prioritization of their partner’s sexual experience . This lack of prioritization could be a possible explanation for what attitudes lead to the behavior of sexual violence perpetrated by college men.