Preventing Sexual Violence Within the Continuum: Differences in Bystander Intervention Engagement Among College Students

Abstract

Sexual violence is framed along a continuum that includes (but is not limited to) sexual harassment and sexual assault. While a few studies have evaluated students’ predispositions and orientations around engaging in bystander intervention (BI) to prevent sexual assault, little has been done for preventing sexual harassment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate theory-based differences in college students’ willingness to engage in BI for preventing either sexual assault or sexual harassment. Students were surveyed at two time points. At T1, intentions, attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) for BI to prevent sexual assault were evaluated, and the same variables were evaluated at T2 for sexual harassment. Independent t-tests evaluated differences between groups. Linear regression analyses were used to evaluate determinants of intentions for BI for both groups. Students’ attitudes toward BI/sexual assault were significantly higher than students’ attitudes toward BI/sexual harassment ( p = .019; d = .22). Conversely, students’ PBC toward BI/sexual harassment was significantly higher than students’ PBC for BI/sexual assault ( p ≤.001; d = .49). Attitudes ( p < .001) and PBC ( p < .001) explained 45.9% of the variance of intentions for BI/sexual assault, while perceived norms ( p < .001) and attitudes ( p < .001) explained 28.4% of the variance of intentions for BI/sexual harassment. Sexual violence, encompassing both sexual assault and sexual harassment, is a pervasive issue on college campuses. More attention should be focused on preventing sexual harassment, as it can create a downstream effect. Furthermore, specific BI practices should be investigated to understand which are more effective at preventing sexual harassment and sexual assault.