Women's assertiveness in drink refusal

This study examined how gender specific assertiveness, drink history, and sexual experience history, were associated with women’s ability to refuse alcoholic beverages from a man in a simulated high risk situation. Women (n=111) answered an anonymous survey that included the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP 64), the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, the Quantity Frequency Index (QFI), The Women’s Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (WSE), and the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES). In addition, participants listened and responded to an audio-taped role play where a man offers multiple drinks in a high risk situation. Women’s gender specific assertiveness or assertiveness in general did not predict whether one would have more difficulty refusing alcoholic beverages from a man. Participants with a higher number of drinking days in the past three months were less likely to refuse a drink offer at all three time-points. In addition, women who endorsed having ambivalent sexual experiences were more likely to accept drink offers. This only became significant when the data set was restricted only to women who had at least one sexual interaction in the past 12 months. Participants had the tendency to deny alcoholic beverages more over time. In other words, fewer women accepted drink offers over time.