College Men Who Read “Men’s Magazines” Found to Be Less Likely Than Other College Men to Seek Sexual Consent

A new study led by researchers at Washington State University in Pullman finds that young men in college who read so-called “men’s magazines,” are more likely to engage in unwanted sexual activity than men in college who do not read these magazine. The data showed that men who read magazines such as Maxim often have lower intentions to seek sexual consent from women and have lower intentions to adhere to decisions regarding sexual consent.

Stacey J.T. Hust, an associate professor of communication at Washington State University and the lead author of the study, stated, “We learn a lot about how to act in a relationship by what we see and what we read in the media. Bad information can lead to bad decisions.”

In contrast, Dr. Hust’s research found that women who read “women’s magazines” tended to be empowered to resist unwanted sexual advances compared to women who did not read similar magazines.

Dr. Hust is a graduate of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. She holds a master’s degree from Washington State University and a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The paper, “Establishing and Adhering to Sexual Consent: The Association of Reading Magazines and College Students’ Sexual Consent Negotiation,” was published in The Journal of Sex Research. It may be accessed here.