Research Article

Predicting College Women’s Self-esteem Based on Verbal Coercion Experience and Verbal Tactic Items on the Revised Sexual Experiences Survey

Published: 2022-12

Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence

DOI: 10.1177/08862605211062989

Abstract

Verbal coercion experience is common among college women and has sometimes been associated with lower self-esteem. The current study examined self-esteem based on the two verbal coercion items included in the latest version of the most popular measure of sexual victimization experience, the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Victimization (SES-SFV; Koss et al., 2007 ). One item includes verbal tactics categorized as “threat” and the other item includes verbal tactics categorized as “criticism.” Undergraduate women ( n = 479) completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the SES-SFV. Results showed that women who experienced criticism reported lower self-esteem than those who did not experience criticism. However, threat experience was not significantly related to women’s self-esteem. Findings support Koss et al.’s suggestion that criticism tactics are more negative than threat tactics, and imply that self-esteem may be negatively associated with some sexually coercive verbal tactics but not associated with others. Future researchers should pay careful attention to operational definitions of verbal coercion.

Faculty Members

  • Suzanne L. Osman - Department of Psychology, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD, USA
  • Halle L. Lane - Department of Psychology, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD, USA

Themes

  • Verbal Coercion
  • Self-Esteem
  • Sexual Victimization
  • Impact of Criticism vs. Threats

Categories

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