By Sarah Stortz
Psychological research at the University of Iowa has attempted to delve into the mind of a sexual perpetrator.
A study conducted by UI psychology Professor Teresa Treat was featured in the online magazine OZY earlier in April titled “The Scientific Reason Men Think You’re Into Them When You’re Not.”
In an Iowa Now press release published in October 2016, Treat said she looked into this type of behavior because of the ongoing sexual aggression on college campuses.
“Sexual aggression is a serious problem on college campuses across the country,” she said in the release. “Researchers have shown that misperception of a woman’s sexual-interest cues plays a role in sexual aggression; this research takes the novel step of trying to modify what people focus on when judging a woman’s sexual interest.”
Treat declined to comment on the study beyond the release.
According to the OZY article, the researchers took a sample of 220 men and 276 women who were undergraduate students. They were shown 130 full-body photos of women and asked to rate how sexually interested the woman looked. These could range from “extremely rejecting” to “extremely sexually interested.”
During the study, half of the students were instructed to focus on emotional cues, which included facial expressions and body language. They were also told to ignore physical attractiveness and style of clothing.
The results of the study showed both genders rating sexual interest in a close percentage. However, the study appeared to find that male participants were more likely to rate based on physical appearance.
UI senior Jill Oberhart, a volunteer facilitator for the Women’s Resource & Action Center, said her fellow students need to understand nonverbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions.
“When students understand nonverbal cues while socializing, they can be active bystanders,” she said. “This means that if they see someone who is visibly uncomfortable, they can help get that person out of that situation.”
Rape Victim Advocacy Program Director Adam Robinson said he sees the importance of this type of research directed at a college setting.
“On one hand, trying to figure out any research to prevent sexual assault is valuable,” he said. “Certainly, there are cases where people wouldn’t identify as a perpetrator.”
Robinson said the gender differentiation of the research results was a crucial part of the study.
“We tend to teach male-identified individuals that they need to have lots of sex, while we teach female-identified individuals that need to be sexy, but not sexual, and that they can’t be assertive,” he said.
RVAP prevention-education coordinator Susan Junis said she was enthusiastic about the UI research.
“It is fantastic that this happening; we’re always looking at prevention at sexual assault and changing societal norms,” she said. “Often, survivors don’t know the intent behind the perpetrator.”
However, Junis stressed the importance of prioritizing verbal consent during these types of scenarios.
“We need to teach people how to utilize verbal cues and verbal consent,” she said. “People can’t always rely on nonverbal cues.”
Robinson said the research could possibly progress the sexual-prevention campaign.
“My hope is this inspires more questions to be asked,” he said. “The answer is going to be a difficult one to find. It will take a lot of discussion.”