Files
Abstract
Sexual revictimization is a prevalent problem, but our understanding of the mechanisms involved in placing women at risk for repeated sexual assaults remains limited. The current study explored the possible protective role of interpersonal effectiveness, defined as a womans level of assertiveness, social perception, and perceived self-efficacy, in preventing revictimization. This study also examined global versus situation specific measures of interpersonal effectiveness and the possible differential impact these constructs have on revictimization. Results indicated that global measures of interpersonal effectiveness failed to differentiate between victim groups. However, revictims were significantly lower than nonvictims on sexual assertiveness and sexual self-efficacy. In contrast, revictims endorsed higher levels of heterosocial perception than nonvictims. These results provide support for the hypothesis that interpersonal functioning is related to a womans risk for revictimization. The findings also highlight the need to measure interpersonal functioning specifically in sexual situations as a possible risk factor for sexual assault.