Encore: Consent Stories: Understanding the Language of Sexual Connection

Against the backdrop of concern with sexual violence on college campuses, Dr. Jason Laker and Dr. Erica Boas discuss their important research on the language of sexual consent among college students. In groundbreaking research on what they term “Consent Stories,” they found that far more prevalent than a hook-up culture was the difficulty of communicating sexual intention and consent or dissent. What Drs. Laker and Boas discuss is what we rarely consider in the communications of intimacy in our adult lives, much less in the understanding we pass on to our children. When is “yes a yes” and when is “no a no?” What about non-verbal communication? What about expectations and misconstrued social norms? In this episode, you will hear about ongoing research that is likely to have a powerful and protective impact in clarifying sexual intent and response in people from teens through adults. Don’t miss this.