All my friends are doing it: Potentially offensive sexual behavior perpetration within adolescent social networks
Abstract
The current study used social network analysis to investigate peer network and individual predictors of potentially offensive sexual behaviors among high school students. Ninth‐grade students (n = 308; 158 girls) completed surveys assessing their perpetration of potentially offensive sexual behaviors against their peers, as well as measures of their sexualized gender stereotypes and propensity to self‐monitor. Participants selected up to eight of their closest friends from a roster. Results revealed homophily of potentially offensive sexual behaviors, such that adolescents perpetrated similar amounts of physical/verbal, electronic, and homophobic behaviors as their friends. Characteristics of the peer network (e.g., mean network perpetration, centrality of individual, and gender composition) and the individual adolescent (e.g., gender, sexualized gender stereotypes, self‐monitoring) predicted adolescents’ own behavior.
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Similarities between Spanish and Italian adolescents in online sexual harassment understanding are partly attributed to social and cultural factors common to both Mediterranean countries, which have traditional gender patterns that support and legitimise sexist or aggressive behaviour among peers.
“These similarities are partly attributed to social and cultural factors that are common to both these Mediterranean countries, which have traditional gender patterns that support and legitimise sexist or aggressive behaviour among peers (Jewell et al., 2015; Leaper & Brown, 2018).”
From Online Sexual Harassment Perpetration Among Peer Adolescents: A Cross-National and Cross-Gender Study (2025) · cites this paper as Jewell et al., 2015
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Online Sexual Harassment in Adolescence: A Scoping Review
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Durán-Guerrero, E., Nocentini, A., Menesini, E., & Sánchez-Jiménez, V. (2025) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs15070969 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“These similarities are partly attributed to social and cultural factors that are common to both these Mediterranean countries, which have traditional gender patterns that support and legitimise sexist or aggressive behaviour among peers (Jewell et al., 2015; Leaper & Brown, 2018).”
- Authors
- Jewell, J., Spears Brown, C., & Perry, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Kentucky (US)
- University of Kentucky
- Venue
- Journal of Research on Adolescence
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-06-13
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 592-604
- ISSN
- 1050-8392 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7795
- OpenAlex
- W1995149094
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Research on Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Research Support Grant from the University of Kentucky Office of the Vice President for Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Keywords
- homophily, self-monitoring, homophobia, cyberbullying, verbal sexual harassment, physical sexual harassment, high school students
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