The Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Perceptions of Consent and Refusal Indicators in a Fictional Alcohol-Involved Sexual Encounter

Abstract

Alcohol intoxication may influence how bystanders interpret other people's consent and refusal cues. We examined the effects of alcohol intoxication on participants' perceptions of characters' consent and refusal indicators in a fictional vignette depicting an alcohol-involved sexual encounter. Young adults (n = 119, 52% women) participated in an alcohol administration experiment examining the influence of acute intoxication on bystander perceptions during a vignette depicting a character who is intoxicated and declines a sexual advance from another character, who ignores her refusal and continues to pursue sexual activity. Participants were randomly assigned to an alcohol or non-alcohol condition and then guided through a semi-structured interview in which we asked about the characters' consent and refusal cues. Interviews were analyzed using both inductive and deductive coding. Most participants eventually indicated the encounter was nonconsensual, but approximately 9% of participants described the encounter as entirely consensual and another 42% of participants described the interaction as initially consensual and then nonconsensual. Participants discussed nuanced accounts of consent and refusal cues, including indicators related to alcohol consumption. Disregarding intoxication and gender, participants eventually recognized the situation as nonconsensual and thus potentially risky. However, some participants recognized this risk earlier in the encounter than others. Consequently, bystanders who recognize risk later in a situation may have fewer opportunities to intervene before a situation escalates. We recommend sexual assault prevention educators take a more nuanced approach when discussing consent and refusal indicators, emphasizing contextual factors that may indicate risk.

Figure 1:. Consent and Refusal Indicators Across Beverage Condition and Gender

Note. WA= woman participants in the alcohol condition, WC= woman participants in the non-alcohol control condition, MA = man participants in the alcohol condition, MC = man participants in the non-alcohol control condition. Line marks the shift from consent to refusals. The consent and refusal cues are generally listed in the order in which they appeared in the vignette. There is overlap when some consent and refusal indicators occurred. For example, temporally the same descriptors from the vignette may be interpreted as “Hanging Out” and “Drinking Together” for consent and as “Signs of Intoxication as Refusal.” Similarly, the description of the transition is noted by participants as both a consent indicator (i.e., “Transitioning as Consent”) and a refusal indicator (i.e., “Transitioning as a Sign of Refusal”).