Assessing How Gender, Relationship Status, and Item Wording Influence Cues Used by College Students to Decline Different Sexual Behaviors

Researchers rarely examine college students' event-level refusals and how refusals may change based on sexual behavior, gender, or relationship status. As such, we assessed how sexual behavior and demographic characteristics influence cues students use to decline sexual activity. As an exploratory aim, we examined the influence of item wording (such as reading the words, not willing/non-consent vs. refusal) on how students reported declining sexual activity. A sample of 615 college students from Canada and the U.S. completed a survey; students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions that manipulated item wording (not willing/non-consent vs. refusal). Students were then prompted with four open-ended questions that asked how they refused/communicated non-consent for four sexual behaviors. An inductive coding procedure was used and five overarching themes emerged. Three themes included explicit and implicit verbal cues and two themes included explicit and implicit non-verbal cues. Wording condition (i.e., not willing/non-consent v. refusal) did not influence the types of cues reported by students. Refusal communication varied by sexual behavior and relationship status but not gender. Sexual assault prevention initiatives should include more information about the variety of refusal cues used by college students in their programming, as many of these cues are currently absent.