Women’s Expression of Anger in Response to Unwanted Sexual Advances: Associations With Sexual Victimization Ernest N. Jouriles, Lorelei Simpson Rowe, Renee McDonald, and Anne L. Kleinsasser Southern Methodist University Objective: To examine the association between women’s prior sexual victimization and their expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances. Method: Sixty-five female undergraduate students participated in role plays with male actors. During the role plays, which were conducted using virtual reality technology, the male actor made unwanted sexual advances toward the participant. Participants’ expression of anger in response to these advances was coded and analyzed. Results: Women with a history of sexual victimization were observed to be less angry and used fewer anger words in response to initial unwanted sexual advances, compared with women with no history of sexual victimization. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential importance of women’s expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances. Specifically, anger expression might be important to consider in understanding women’s vulnera- bility to victimization and revictimization, and as an intervention target for programs designed to help women resist sexual violence. Finally, this study illustrates the potential benefits of a unique methodology—role plays conducted using virtual reality—for investigating women’s responses to unwanted sexual advances. Keywords: anger, sexual victimization, sexual violence, virtual reality, role plays Many women experience unwanted sexual contact, coercion, or assault in their lifetime, most commonly during late adolescence or early adulthood (U.S. Department of Justice, 2008). Sexual victimization is associated with many adverse outcomes, including physical in- jury, psychological distress and disorder, declines in educational and occupational func- tioning, and interpersonal difficulties (e.g., Campbell, Dworkin, & Cabral, 2009; Littleton, Grills-Taquechel, & Axsom, 2009; Turchik, Probst, Chau, Nigoff, & Gidycz, 2007). Women who have been sexually victimized are also at greater risk for revictimization (Classen, Palesh, & Aggarwal, 2005; Hamby, Finkelhor, & Turner, 2012). Specifically, girls and women who have been previously victimized are ap- proximately 2–3 times more likely than those with no victimization history to be sexually victimized in the future (Breitenbecher, 2001). Revictimization can compound the effects of initial victimization and give rise to prolonged adjustment problems and other health difficul- ties (Classen et al., 2005). Until a solution for ending the perpetration of sexual aggression is found, it is important to try to understand the processes that may render women more vulner- able to victimization so that informed recom- mendations for women’s self-protection can be made. In this article, we argue that expressing anger in response to unwanted sexual advances may be adaptive and we examine the associa- tion between women’s prior sexual victimiza- tion and their expression of anger in response to unwanted sexual advances. Expressing anger, which may range from ex- pressions of annoyance and irritation to expres- sions of fury and outrage, might be adaptive in response to unwanted sexual advances for a variety of reasons. First, it might enhance the ability to escape or evade unwanted advances from a potential perpetrator. For example, a man’s perception of a woman’s sexual interest in him (Abbey, McAuslan, Zawacki, Clinton, & Buck, 2001) and his appraisal of the likelihood This article was published Online First July 15, 2013. Ernest N. Jouriles, Lorelei Simpson Rowe, Renee McDonald, and Anne L. Kleinsasser, Department of Psy- chology, Southern Methodist University. Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to Ernest N. Jouriles, Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750442, Dallas, TX 75275-0442. E-mail: ejourile@smu.edu This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Psychology of Violence © 2013 American Psychological Association 2014, Vol. 4, No. 2, 170 –183 2152-0828/14/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0033191 170