News — Young men’s commonly held beliefs and attitudes about drinking, gender role stereotypes, and peer pressure may be key drivers impacting women’s sexual victimization in bars and clubs. That’s according to a recent study testing a new measurement tool designed to assess beliefs and attitudes related to men’s perpetration of sexual violence in drinking venues. Sexual violence, encompassing sexual harassment, unwanted touching, and persistence, as well as assault, is a pervasive problem with major emotional, health, and economic impacts. Most perpetrators are men, and most targets are women. While previous research has found that certain beliefs and attitudes are linked to sexual violence, existing research tools do not fully assess or account for beliefs and attitudes related to sexual violence occurring in drinking venues. In fact, many forms of sexual violence are so common in drinking venues that they are normalized and seen as socially acceptable among young men. Understanding men’s beliefs and attitudes specific to alcohol-related sexual violence in bars and clubs is essential for effective prevention initiatives. For the study in Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research, investigators developed and tested a new measurement tool for assessing how men’s beliefs and attitudes about sexual violence in drinking venues related to their own perpetration.
The researchers drew from established behavioral models and theories relating to gender-based violence, situational crime prevention, peer influence, and alcohol to construct a measure of beliefs and attitudes about men’s alcohol-related sexual harassment and aggression—BAMASHA—toward women in drinking venues. Using findings drawn from focus groups with young men, the researchers began with a questionnaire consisting of 82 items reflecting several dimensions, including personal approval, peer approval, perceived normality, gender roles, anticipated consequences, and the role of alcohol. They recruited 330 Canadian men aged 19-25 (average age 23, 48% white) to complete the questionnaire online by rating the extent that they agreed or disagreed with each of the 82 beliefs/attitude statements. The participants also completed existing validated measures assessing their bar-going behavior, frequency of heavy episodic (binge) drinking, sexual behaviors, and general attitudes to sexual violence, women, and drinking.
Almost 3 in 4 (72%) participants reported perpetrating at least one sexual violence behavior in a club/bar (e.g., grabbing a girl’s breast or butt to make friends laugh). The researchers used statistical techniques to refine the tool, selecting the most valid and concise items. This resulted in 24 items in the final measure, retaining attitudes and beliefs from each initial dimension. The BAMASHA was highly predictive of perpetration of sexual violence in drinking venues. The researchers also developed and validated a short-form version of the BAMASHA (12 items), which has potential value for evaluation of sexual violence intervention programs.
The correlations between the BAMASHA and existing measures of men’s general attitudes toward sexual violence toward women (e.g., rape myth acceptance, hostility toward women) supported the validity of the new tool. Although the BAMASHA findings aligned closely with a validated measure of rape myth acceptance, the BAMASHA provided additional insights into sexual violence in drinking venues. The findings suggest that efforts to change commonly held beliefs and attitudes toward sexual violence in drinking venues may be key to preventing men’s sexual violence in these contexts. Further research is needed to confirm the validity of the new instrument with different samples of men and to apply this knowledge of men’s beliefs and attitudes to prevention programming and evaluation.
Beliefs and attitudes about men’s alcohol-related sexual harassment and aggression (BAMASHA): Development and initial validation of a new scale. K.L. Huellemann, K. Graham, S. Bernards, P. Tremblay, A. Abbey, C. Senn, V. Banyard, S. McMahon, T. Dumas, and S. Wells.
ACER-24-6009.R1
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