Confident, moderate, reluctant: Young women’s trajectories in their willingness to refuse unwanted sex

Abstract

Unwanted sex is widely experienced by young women in the United States, and previous research has identified the factors associated with young women agreeing to have unwanted sex. However, much less is known about young women’s willingness to refuse sex. This brief, from PRC faculty research associate Abigail Weitzman and PRC graduate student trainee Allen Mallory, reports on a study that is the first of its kind to examine this willingness to refuse sex and explore how it evolves during the transition to adulthood. They find that young women follow three trajectories in their willingness to refuse unwanted sex: confident, moderate, and reluctant.Population Research Cente