Keywords
Rejection; Sexual Rejection; Reaction; Gender Differences
Abstract
Sexual rejection is the verbal and/or nonverbal communication of not wanting to have sex with someone who does want to have sex (Kim, 2018). It’s important to explore instances of sexual rejection because of public safety issues like violence against women, and domestic issues like relationship communication. The purpose of this study was to explore the frequencies of ways people were sexually rejected and how they reacted to being sexually rejected, the relationship between ways people were sexually rejected and how people reacted to being sexually rejected, and gender-specific connections to how people react to being sexually rejected. The sample was 539 adults living in the United States of America that reported experiencing sexual rejection. Participants reported being sexually rejected verbally the most. Participants reported reacting with understanding the most followed by reacting upset. There was a negative relationship between verbal sexual rejection and reacting upset. There was a positive relationship to rejection strategies other than verbal and most negative reactions. Cisgender men were more likely than cisgender women and gender minorities to react to sexual rejection with anger or by trying to convince their partner to have sex despite rejection. Future research should focus on exploring different sexual rejection experiences and recruiting a larger sample that is diverse. Clinical applications of this study’s findings would be to create programs to prevent sexual assault that focus on perpetration, and emotional regulation intervention programs that focus on rejection resilience. Practical applications of this study’s findings would be emphasizing verbal communication as the key to solving conflict.
Thesis Completion Year
2024
Thesis Completion Semester
Fall
Thesis Chair
Woerner, Jacqueline
College
College of Sciences
Department
Psychology
Thesis Discipline
Psychology
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
STARS Citation
Gomez, Emelina L., "The Ways People Have Been Sexually Rejected And How People Reacted To Sexual Rejection" (2024). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 151.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/151
Rights Statement
