(PS4-37) Sexual Assault, Alcohol, and Consent in Context: Using Empirical Methods to Inform Legal Decision-Making

Abstract Text: Consistent with the theme of ABCT, this research was intended to broaden the scope of our empirical research to further generalizability and dissemination of psychological findings to legal and forensic contexts. Research has consistently demonstrated that alcohol intoxication is associated with sexual assault, including consumption by the victim, the perpetrator, and bystanders (Abbey, 2002; Drouin et al., 2018). There are several theoretical models that explain this phenomenon, including I3, alcohol myopia theory, and sexual arousal theories (Jaffe et al., 2023; Finkel & Hall, 2018). Additionally, in the context of adjudication of sexual assault cases within the criminal justice system, issues of alcohol intoxication are common (Cornelius et al., 2025). While some psychological research has examined perceptions of consent while intoxicated (Drouin et al., 2018; Jozkowski et al., 2022; Marcantonio & Jozkowski, 2023), less is known regarding the intoxication symptoms that are most salient in determinations of one’s capacity for sexual consent. To date, there are no data on the factors that contribute to this assessment or how various symptoms of acute alcohol intoxication may be weighed in criminal determinations. This research assessed how these variables are weighed by potential jurors, and to better bridge the gap between psychological science and real-world legal applications.

The current study utilized a sample of college (N=527) and community individuals (N=203) who were presented with a vignette portraying a sexual interaction between two intoxicated individuals. We assessed perceived capacity to consent to sexual behavior, as well as how a list of 29 established indicators of alcohol intoxication were perceived in terms of capacity to consent (i.e., throwing up, stumbling, slurring words). The results suggested that for the vignette, individuals recruited from the community were significantly more likely to perceive capacity for consent than college students, and college men were more likely to perceive consent than college women (F=45.17; p=.001). A similar pattern also emerged for most intoxication symptoms, particularly the more severe symptoms (i.e., urinating on self, “blacked out”, falling down) by gender and college/community samples (p=.001) with capacity to consent. Multiple regression analyses suggested that older age significantly predicted capacity to consent for an unconscious person (=.199; p=.001) and capacity for consent while throwing up (=.345; p=.001). Participation in consent education programming predicted lower perceived capacity among unconscious individuals (=-.099; p=.002). These data provide important information for psychological prevention/intervention contexts, but are also important as we continue to disseminate psychological research to contexts in which empirically findings would assist in decision-making, particularly in legal proceedings. The limitations and implications of these data for will be discussed, in addition to clinical implications of these findings.