Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in Women
Background/aim: The Internal and External Consent Scales (ICS and ECS) have been used to measure these constructs, primarily among college students or young adults in the United States during consensual sexual activity. The aim of this work is to examine women’s internal and external consent to both...
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Sociedad Española de Psicología Jurídica y Forense
2025-01-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context |
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https://journals.copmadrid.org/ejpalc/art/ejpalc2025a5
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| author | Nieves Moyano Antonio Rafael Hidalgo-Muñoz María del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes Kristen Jozkowski Reina Granados |
| author_facet | Nieves Moyano Antonio Rafael Hidalgo-Muñoz María del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes Kristen Jozkowski Reina Granados |
| author_sort | Nieves Moyano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/aim: The Internal and External Consent Scales (ICS and ECS) have been used to measure these constructs, primarily among college students or young adults in the United States during consensual sexual activity. The aim of this work is to examine women’s internal and external consent to both consensual and nonconsensual sexual experiences. Method: Building on this research, we applied these measures to both consensual and nonconsensual contexts in a sample of 764 adult women from Spain. Then, among women who experienced nonconsensual sex (n = 252), we further analyzed situational factors associated with the encounter: setting (i.e., whether the participant was in a known vs. unknown location when the nonconsensual sex occurred), and whether the nonconsensual sex was sexual coercion or sexual assault. Results: Our results show that, with regard to external consent, when engaging in consensual sex, women indicated greater use of all cues ranging from communication/initiation behavior to nonverbal behaviors than those who experienced nonconsensual sex. Similarly, those who experienced nonconsensual reported lower physiological responses of arousal, less safety/comfort, consent/wantedness, and readiness compared with those who had consensual sex. Further, those who experienced nonconsensual sex in an unknown setting (vs. known) reported feeling less safety and readiness in term of internal consent. Finally, women who experienced sexual coercion (vs. sexual assault) indicated greater use of borderline pressure. Conclusion: Our study expands on previous conceptualization of the ICS and ECS to include both consensual and nonconsensual encounters, which provides further insight about the continuum of sexual consent. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ebb3b1c94999454190b8640bb1271671 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1889-1861 1989-4007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Sociedad Española de Psicología Jurídica y Forense |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context |
| spelling | doaj-art-ebb3b1c94999454190b8640bb12716712025-01-27T13:49:12ZengSociedad Española de Psicología Jurídica y ForenseEuropean Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context1889-18611989-40072025-01-01171495710.5093/ejpalc2025a511320559Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in WomenNieves Moyano0Antonio Rafael Hidalgo-Muñoz1María del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes2Kristen Jozkowski3Reina Granados4University of Jaén, Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences, Departament of Psychology, Spain, Departament of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences, University of Jaén, Spain;University of Salamanca, Department of Basic Psychology, Psychobiology, and Behavioral Sciences Methodology, Spain, Department of Basic Psychology, Psychobiology, and Behavioral Sciences Methodology, University of Salamanca, Spain;University of Granada, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, Spain, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Spain;Indiana University, School of Public Health, Department of Applied Health Science, Bloomington , USA, Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA;University of Granada, Faculty of Health Sciences, Nursing Department, Spain, Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, SpainBackground/aim: The Internal and External Consent Scales (ICS and ECS) have been used to measure these constructs, primarily among college students or young adults in the United States during consensual sexual activity. The aim of this work is to examine women’s internal and external consent to both consensual and nonconsensual sexual experiences. Method: Building on this research, we applied these measures to both consensual and nonconsensual contexts in a sample of 764 adult women from Spain. Then, among women who experienced nonconsensual sex (n = 252), we further analyzed situational factors associated with the encounter: setting (i.e., whether the participant was in a known vs. unknown location when the nonconsensual sex occurred), and whether the nonconsensual sex was sexual coercion or sexual assault. Results: Our results show that, with regard to external consent, when engaging in consensual sex, women indicated greater use of all cues ranging from communication/initiation behavior to nonverbal behaviors than those who experienced nonconsensual sex. Similarly, those who experienced nonconsensual reported lower physiological responses of arousal, less safety/comfort, consent/wantedness, and readiness compared with those who had consensual sex. Further, those who experienced nonconsensual sex in an unknown setting (vs. known) reported feeling less safety and readiness in term of internal consent. Finally, women who experienced sexual coercion (vs. sexual assault) indicated greater use of borderline pressure. Conclusion: Our study expands on previous conceptualization of the ICS and ECS to include both consensual and nonconsensual encounters, which provides further insight about the continuum of sexual consent. https://journals.copmadrid.org/ejpalc/art/ejpalc2025a5 sexual consentinternal consentexternal consentnonconsensualsexual coercion |
| spellingShingle | Nieves Moyano Antonio Rafael Hidalgo-Muñoz María del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes Kristen Jozkowski Reina Granados Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in Women European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context sexual consent internal consent external consent nonconsensual sexual coercion |
| title | Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in Women |
| title_full | Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in Women |
| title_fullStr | Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in Women |
| title_full_unstemmed | Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in Women |
| title_short | Examining Internal and External Consent in Consensual and Non-Consensual Contexts in Women |
| title_sort | examining internal and external consent in consensual and non consensual contexts in women |
| topic | sexual consent internal consent external consent nonconsensual sexual coercion |
| url |
https://journals.copmadrid.org/ejpalc/art/ejpalc2025a5
|
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nievesmoyano examininginternalandexternalconsentinconsensualandnonconsensualcontextsinwomen AT antoniorafaelhidalgomunoz examininginternalandexternalconsentinconsensualandnonconsensualcontextsinwomen AT mariadelmarsanchezfuentes examininginternalandexternalconsentinconsensualandnonconsensualcontextsinwomen AT kristenjozkowski examininginternalandexternalconsentinconsensualandnonconsensualcontextsinwomen AT reinagranados examininginternalandexternalconsentinconsensualandnonconsensualcontextsinwomen |