College Women Who Hold on to Traditional Gender Stereotypes May Be Prone to Unhealthy Relationships

A new study led by Stacey J.T. Hust, an associate professor in the College of Communication at Washington State University in Pullman, finds that women college students who held traditional stereotypes on the role of women in society were significantly less likely to ask for and adhere to their partner’s consent to sexual activity and were less likely to refuse unwanted sexual advances.

Dr. Hust stated that “our findings suggest college women’s acceptance of degrading media portrayals of women, like those we see in current popular music videos, play a role in their real-life sexual relationships.”

Dr. Hust joined the faculty at Washington State University in 2005. She is a graduate of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, where she majored in English. 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 full study, “Scripting Sexual Consent: Internalized Traditional Sexual Scripts and Sexual Consent Expectancies Among College Students” was published in the journal Family Relations. It may be accessed here.

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