Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Factors Associated with #MeToo Involvement Among College Students

  • Published:
American Journal of Criminal Justice Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sexual violence is a topic that has received increasing national attention and has been identified as a commonly occurring social issue. In response to the failure of the criminal justice system (and society at large) to adequately respond to the prevalence of sexual victimization, the #MeToo movement (which involves posting the #MeToo hashtag on social media) has acted as a mechanism to expose systemic oppression and abuses of power, while also holding perpetrators of sexual violence accountable for sexual abuse and harassment. There is growing popularity in utilizing the internet to raise awareness about social issues and to generate participation in collective action. While most research investigating factors associated with social movement participation has been primarily confined to collective identity as a precursor to in-person activism, less is known about other predictors (e.g., demographic characteristics) of social and, more specifically, digital activism. Using data collected from 626 undergraduate college students, the current study examines the impact of various demographic characteristics, collective identity, self-esteem, self-control, and attitudes towards sexual coercion on participation in the #MeToo movement in various forms (i.e., posting the #MeToo hashtag on personal social media accounts; signing a #MeToo petition; attending a #MeToo protest or rally). Results indicate that demographic characteristics, collective identity, Greek membership/collegiate athletics, and sexual violence programming are significantly associated with #MeToo involvement. Policy implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Gender identity was excluded from the analysis since none of the participants indicated that their gender identity varied from their natal sex.

  2. Due to the large confidence interval associated with the international student variable, the binary logistic regression was reanalyzed excluding this variable. There were no substantive differences between these two analyses.

References

  • Abrams, D., & Hogg, M. A. (Eds.). (1990). Social identity theory: Constructive and critical advances. New York: Springer-Verlag Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, E. (2008). ‘Stop it, that’s enough’: Bystander intervention and its relationship to school connectedness and shame management. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 3(3), 203–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altbach, P. G. (1989). Perspectives on student activism. Comparative Education, 25(1), 97–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andalibi, N, Haimson, O.L., De Choudhury, M. & Forte, A. (2016). Understanding social media disclosures of sexual abuse through the lenses of support seeking and anonymity. Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 3906–3918. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858096

  • Anderson, R. E., Wandrew, R. L., Klossner, S. C., & Cahill, S. P. (2017). Sexual minority status and interpersonal victimization in college men. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 4(1), 130–136.

  • Astin, A. W., Astin, H. S., Bayer, A. E., & Bisconti, A. S. (1975). The power of protest. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berridge, S., & Portwood-Stacer, L. (2015). Introduction: Feminism, hashtags and violence against women and girls. Feminist Media Studies, 16(1), 171–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breiding, M. J., Smith, S. G., Basile, K. C., Walters, M. L., Chen, J., & Merrick, M. T. (2014). Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization—National Intimate Partner and Sexual Victimization Survey, United States, 2011. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, E., Landry, T., & Wood, C. (2007). Beyond just being there: An examination of the impact of attitudes, materialism, and self-esteem on the quality of helping behavior in youth volunteers. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 18(2), 27–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunsting, S., & Postmes, T. (2002). Social movement participation in the digital age: Predicting offline and online collective action. Small Group Research, 33(5), 525–554.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caren, N., Ghoshal, R. A., & Ribas, V. (2011). A social movement generation: Cohort and period trends in protest attendance and petition signing. American Sociological Review, 76(1), 125–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, J., & Guy-Sheftall, B. (2003). Gender talk: The struggle for women’s equality in African American communities. New York: Ballantine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, S. L., Gidycz, C. A., Koss, M. P., & Murphy, M. (2011). Emerging issues in the measurement of rape victimization. Violence Against Women, 17(2), 201–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalton, R., Van Sickle, A., & Weldon, S. (2010). The individual–institutional nexus of protest behaviour. British Journal of Political Science, 40(1), 51–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dozier, D. M., Shen, H., Sweetser, K. D., & Barker, V. (2016). Demographics and internet behaviors as factors associated with active publics. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 82–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, G. L., & Piotrkowski, C. S. (2009). African and European American women’s volunteerism and activism: Similarities in volunteering and differences in activism. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19(2), 196–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fielding, K. S., McDonald, R., & Louis, W. R. (2008). Theory of planned behaviour, identity and intentions to engage in environmental activism. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28(4), 318–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, B. S., Cullen, F. T., & Turner, M. G. (2000). The sexual victimization of college women. (Report No. NCJ-182369). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

  • Friedman, M. S., Marshal, M. P., Guadamuz, T. E., Wei, C., Wong, C. F., Saewyc, E. M., & Stall, R. (2011). A meta-analysis of disparities in childhood sexual abuse, parental physical abuse, and peer victimization among sexual minority and sexual nonminority individuals. American Journal of Public Health, 101(8), 1481–1494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost, D. M. (2011). Social stigma and its consequences for the socially stigmatized. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(11), 824–839.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R., & Orgad, S. (2018). The shifting terrain of sex and power: From the ‘sexualization of culture’ to #MeToo. Sexualities, 21(8), 1313–1324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grasmick, H. G., Tittle, C. R., Bursik Jr., R. J., & Arneklev, B. J. (1993). Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30(1), 5–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, A., & Desmarais, S. (2014). Not all one and the same: Sexual identity, activism, and collective self-esteem. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 23(2), 116–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, D. E., & Janosik, S. M. (2002). The Clery Act: How effective is it? Perceptions from the field – The current state of the research and recommendations for improvement. Stetson Law Review, 32, 7–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S. (2010). The American gay rights movement and patriotic protest. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 19(3), 536–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosterman, A. R., Johnson, N. R., Stouffer, R., & Herring, S. (2018). Twitter, social support messages, and the #MeToo movement. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(2), 69–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, T. L., Szalacha, L. A., Johnson, T. P., Kinnison, K. E., Wilsnack, S. C., & Cho, Y. (2010). Sexual victimization and hazardous drinking among heterosexual and sexual minority women. Addictive Behaviors, 35(12), 1152–1156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe, S. (2018). The collective power of #MeToo. Dissent, 65(2), 80–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, A., Menefee, K., & Sekaran, R. (2019). Progress in advancing MeToo workplace reforms in #20statesby2020. Washington, D.C.: National Women’s Law Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jozkowski, K. N., & Wiersma-Mosley, J. D. (2017). The Greek system: How gender inequality and class privilege perpetuate rape culture. Family Relations, 66(1), 89–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 80–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, J., Mendes, K., & Ringrose, J. (2018). Speaking ‘unspeakable things’: Documenting digital feminist responses to rape culture. Journal of Gender Studies, 27(1), 22–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, D. G., Edmunds, C. N., & Seymour, A. K. (1992). Rape in America: A report to the nation. Arlington: National Victim Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, D. G., Resnick, H. S., Rugiero, K. J., Consoscenti, L. M., & McCauley, J. (2007). Drug-facilitated, incapacitated, and forcible rape: A national study. (Award No. 2005-WG-BX-0006). Charleston, SC: National Crime Victims Research & Treatment Center. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/219181.pdf

  • Krahé, B., Bieneck, S., & Scheinberger-Olwig, R. (2007). The role of sexual scripts in sexual aggression and victimization. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(5), 687–701.

    Google Scholar 

  • LePine, J. A., & Van Dyne, L. (1998). Predicting voice behavior in work groups. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(6), 853–868.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liss, M., Crawford, M., & Popp, D. (2004). Predictors and correlates of collective action. Sex Roles, 50(11-12), 771–779.

  • Lokot, T. (2018). # IAmNotAfraidToSayIt: Stories of sexual violence as everyday political speech on Facebook. Information, Communication & Society, 21(6), 802–817.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, M. H., Levine, P., Both, D., Kiesa, A., Kirby, E., & Marcelo, K. (2006). The 2006 civic and political health of the nation: A detailed look at how youth participate in politics and communities. College Park: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mack, A. N., & McCann, B. J. (2018). Critiquing state and gendered violence in the age of #MeToo. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 104(3), 329–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdam, D. (1992). Gender as a mediator of the activist experience: The case of freedom summer. American Journal of Sociology, 97(5), 1211–1240.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCray, K. L. (2015). Intercollegiate athletes and sexual violence: A review of literature and recommendations for future study. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 16(4), 438–443.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, S., & Farmer, G. L. (2009). The bystander approach: Strengths-based sexual assault prevention with at-risk groups. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19(8), 1042–1065.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendes, K., Ringrose, J., & Keller, J. (2018). # MeToo and the promise and pitfalls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism. European Journal of Women's Studies, 25(2), 236–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, M. (2009). The logic of collective action. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, K., Koscak, G., Foroudi, P., Mitalas, E., & Noble, L. (2016). Recognize and refer: Engaging the Greek community in active bystander training. College Student Affairs Journal, 34(3), 48–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Onwuachi-Willig, A. (2018). What about #UsToo: The invisibility of race in the #MeToo movement. Yale Law Journal Forum, 128, 105–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owens, T. J., & Aronson, P. J. (2000). Self-concept as a force in social movement involvement. In S. Stryker, T. J. Owens, & R. W. White (Eds.), Self, identity, and social movements (pp. 191–214). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regulska, J. (2018). The #MeToo movement as a global learning moment. International Higher Education, 94, 5–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodino-Colocino, M. (2018). Me too, #MeToo: Countering cruelty with empathy. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 15(1), 96–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1979). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, D. E. (1982). The prevalence and incidence of forcible rape and attempted rape of females. Victimology, 7, 81–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, B., Loewy, M., Stürmer, S., Weber, U., Freytag, P., Habig, C., Kampmeier, C., & Spahlinger, P. (1998). Collective identification and social movement participation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(3), 646–658.

    Google Scholar 

  • Söchting, I., Fairbrother, N., & Koch, W. J. (2004). Sexual assault of women: Prevention efforts and risk factors. Violence Against Women, 10(1), 73–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S., Owens, T. J., & White, R. W. (Eds.). (2000). Self, identity, and social movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stürmer, S., & Simon, B. (2004). The role of collective identification in social movement participation: A panel study in the context of the German gay movement. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(3), 263–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories: Studies in social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tambe, A. (2018). Reckoning with the silences of #MeToo. Feminist Studies, 44(1), 197–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, K. Y. (2016). From #BlackLivesMatter to black liberation. Chicago: Haymarket Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Theriot, M. T., Dulmus, C. N., Sowers, K. M., & Johnson, T. K. (2005). Factors relating to self-identification among bullying victims. Children and Youth Services Review, 27(9), 979–994.

    Google Scholar 

  • TIME. (2017). 700,000 Female Farmworkers Say They Stand with Hollywood Actors Against Sexual Assault. Retrieved from https://time.com/5018813/farmworkers-solidarity-hollywood-sexual-assault/

  • Tindall, D. B., Davies, S., & Mauboules, C. (2003). Activism and conservation behavior in an environmental movement: The contradictory effects of gender. Society & Natural Resources, 16(10), 909–932.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turchik, J. A. (2012). Sexual victimization among male college students: Assault severity, sexual functioning, and health risk behaviors. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 13(3), 243–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. News & World Report. (2020). 2020 Campus Ethnic Diversity at National Universities. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/campus-ethnic-diversity

  • Valenzuela, S. (2013). Unpacking the use of social media for protest behavior: The roles of information, opinion expression, and activism. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(7), 920–942.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, M. L., Chen, J., & Breiding, M. J. (2013). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey (NISVS): 2010 findings on victimization by sexual orientation. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, K. G. (2010). Male sexual victimization: Examining men’s experiences of rape and sexual assault. Men and Masculinities, 12(3), 275–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whelan, E. (2019). The more things change (the more they stay the same). Conscience, 40(2), 29–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, L. C., & Miller, K. E. (2016). Meta-analysis of the prevalence of unacknowledged rape. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 149–159.

  • Wilson, L. C., & Newins, A. R. (2019). Rape acknowledgment and sexual minority identity: The indirect effect of rape myth acceptance. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 6(1), 113–119.

  • Yang, G. (2016). Narrative agency in hashtag activism: The case of #BlackLivesMatter. Media and Communication, 4(4), 13–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, W., Johnson, T. J., Seltzer, T., & Bichard, S. L. (2010). The revolution will be networked: The influence of social networking sites on political attitudes and behavior. Social Science Computer Review, 28(1), 75–92.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, USA

    Chrystina Y. Hoffman

Authors
  1. Chrystina Y. Hoffman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chrystina Y. Hoffman.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hoffman, C.Y. Factors Associated with #MeToo Involvement Among College Students. Am J Crim Just 46, 51–67 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09590-w

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09590-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation