TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2007//
TI  - The Impact of Sexual Victimization on Personality: A Longitudinal Study of Gendered Attributes
JO  - Sex roles
A1  - McMullin, Darcy
A1  - Wirth, R. J.
A1  - White, Jacquelyn W.
SP  - 403
EP  - 414
VL  - 56
IS  - 7-8
N2  - Little is known about how sexual victimization may affect a woman’s self-reported personality ratings. In the present study endorsement ratings of gendered attributes, as measured by the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire, were examined over a 3-year span using multiple group latent growth modeling. Differences in the endorsement of gendered attributes between college female non-victims (N = 158) and victims (N = 158) of sexual aggression were tested. Whereas endorsement of communal and positive agentic attributes were stable across time, victims remained consistently less traditionally feminine (i.e., positively communal and nurturing) than non-victims. Victims also appeared to become relatively more self-focused (i.e., negative masculinity) across time than non-victims. This pattern suggests that sexual victimization may have lasting effects on victims’ ability to focus on the nurturing, trusting aspects of relationships; rather they have a preoccupation with their own needs and goals that appears to strengthen with time. Such a pattern sheds insight into how self-processes may contribute to the relationship difficulties often observed in sexual assault victims. Implications of these results for both personality and sexual aggression researchers are discussed.<p /> 
LA  - en
SN  - 0360-0025
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9179-8
ID  - ref1
ER  -