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Gay and Bisexual Men’s Unwanted Sexual Experiences: Immediate Reactions and Long-term Outcomes Following Sexually Coercive Events
Ramirez, Johanna
Ramirez, Johanna
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Abstract
There is little empirical research that examines the effects that experiences of sexual
assault and coercion can have on sexual minorities, and even less research that centers the
experiences of gay and bisexual men (GBM), specifically. Gay and bisexual men have
consistently reported higher levels of sexual coercion compared to heterosexual men. The
purpose of this study was to investigate the broad range of immediate reactions and long-term
outcomes associated with GBM’s experiences of sexual coercion to extend our understanding of
the impacts of sexual coercion within this community.
Participants were recruited from multiple websites, including social media sites targeting
gay and bisexual men and websites for sex and psychological research. The final sample
consisted of 101 gay and bisexual men. Participants completed an online questionnaire about
unwanted sexual experiences in their lifetime and were invited to provide a qualitative account of
one specific sexually coercive experience. They answered a series of questions designed to
openly assess their perception of any negative, positive, or other outcomes associated with this
event. Using quantitative data, we explored the frequency of valenced reactions and outcomes
following these events, as well as the types of sexually coercive experiences participants
reported. Using thematic analysis, we explored their short-term reactions during or shortly after
the incident and the long-term outcomes of the coercive incidents.
Results showed that participants more frequently reported negative short-term reactions
compared to positive short-term reactions and positive and negative long-term outcomes. No
significant differences were observed in the proportions of participants who described negative
versus positive long-term outcomes. Men who reported negative short-term reactions were more
likely than men who did not report negative short-term reactions to report negative long-term
outcomes. Men who reported positive short-term reactions were not significantly more likely to
report positive long-term reactions compared to men who did not report positive short-term
reactions. Qualitative results showed a variety of both negatively- and positively-valenced shortterm
reactions and long-term outcomes, including themes that specifically related to participants’
conceptualizations of their sexual and gender identities and impacts on their sexual identity
development.
This study highlights the impacts of sexual coercion for a sample of GBM, which align
with past research on both female and heterosexual male samples. However, this study also
presents novel findings which challenge previous assumptions and stereotypes about the sexual
assault of men and allow for a holistic understanding of the complex effects that experiences of
sexual coercion can have on sexual minority men. These results have implications for clinical
practice and research. As there is currently a lack of targeted clinical resources for GBM who
experience sexual coercion, these findings stand to inform the development of these tools. Sexual
assault researchers may also see benefit from taking an impartial and unbiased approach to data
collection.
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Date
2024-01-01
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University of Kansas
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This item contains archived web content.
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Keywords
Clinical psychology, men, sexual assault, sexual coercion, sexual minority