Influence of consent on college students' perceptions of the quality of sexual intercourse

Background: A major hallmark of sexual assault prevention education is consent promotion. As such, sexual consent has been examined almost exclusively in the context of sexual assault. However, alternative initiatives for prevention education which promote proactive and enthusiastic consent may be beneficial to decrease rates of sexual assault and work toward enhancing individuals' sexual experiences. The current study examined consent outside of a sexual assault framework by assessing consent's relation to individuals' perception of the quality of sexual intercourse while controlling for alcohol consumption, relationship status, age, and gender.

Methods: College students (n=640) were recruited to participate in a survey assessing their most recent engagement in sexual intercourse. Hierarchical regression was conducted: alcohol consumption, relationship status, and age were entered in step 1; the Internal and External Consent Scale factors were entered in step 2. Two separate models were run for women and men.

Results: For women, three factors (Comfort/Safety; Agreement/Wantedness; Physical Response) on the Internal Consent Scale explained a significant proportion of variance in quality of intercourse beyond variables in step 1 (DR2=.17, p < .001). For men, the Comfort/Safety and Agreement/Wantedness factors on the Internal Consent Scale and Direct Nonverbal Cues factor on the External Consent Scale significantly predicted quality of sexual intercourse beyond step 1 (DR2=.23, p<.001).

Implications: Preliminary findings suggest that consent influences quality of sexual intercourse. Such findings could be utilized to develop more affirmative models of sexual violence prevention that highlight the need for consensual, pleasurable sexual encounters for individuals of all genders.