Sexual consent communication can be ambiguous when people rely on nonverbal, implicit cues. This ambiguity can lead to the reliance of contextual information to assess whether a sexual encounter was consensual, both in the moment and retrospectively. The current study examined how level of alcohol consumption, relationship type, and evaluator gender influenced the extent to which various sexual encounters were seen as consensual. Participants read a series of vignettes in which sexual consent was verbally granted, verbally rejected, or inferred using nonverbal cues. The vignettes also manipulated the amount of alcohol consumed by the target of the sexual advances (i.e., sober, tipsy, or intoxicated) as well as the relationship between the dyads (i.e., dating or strangers). Generally, male participants were more likely to interpret all encounters as more consensual. Encounters in which the target was intoxicated were more likely to be interpreted as nonconsensual, but instances when targets were described as tipsy (i.e., she consumed two or less alcoholic beverages) were seen as more consensual than sober encounters. The relationship between the dyads also influenced these perceptions. This work can inform educational efforts geared toward alcohol and sexual consent.

当人们依赖非语言的、隐含的暗示时，性同意的沟通可能是模棱两可的。这种模糊性可能导致依赖上下文信息来评估性接触是否是双方自愿的，无论是在当下还是回顾。目前的研究考察了饮酒水平、关系类型和评估者性别如何影响各种性接触被视为双方同意的程度。参与者阅读了一系列小插曲，其中性同意是口头授予、口头拒绝或使用非语言暗示推断的。这些小插曲还操纵了性挑逗目标（即清醒、醉酒或醉酒）的饮酒量以及二人组之间的关系（即约会或陌生人）。一般来说，男性参与者更有可能将所有相遇解释为更一致。目标醉酒的遭遇更有可能被解释为未经同意，但目标被描述为醉酒（即她喝了两杯或更少的酒精饮料）的情况被认为比清醒的相遇更符合自愿。二元组之间的关系也影响了这些观念。这项工作可以为针对酒精和性同意的教育工作提供信息。