The Multiple Roles of Emotion in Interpretation and Memory of Sexual Consent.

In this paper, we explore the role of emotion in the interpretation and memory of sexual encounters. We consider situations likely to generate negative emotions during sex, and the mechanisms through which the experience of negative emotions can lead to false memories of coercion and mislabeling of an encounter as sexual assault. Specifically, we consider the role of emotion in directing attention during a sexual encounter and the effects of emotion as context for interpretation at the time of the encounter, and for retrieval and interpretation when the encounter is later recalled and reported. Our intent is to provide a greater understanding of the processes of interpretation and memory through which false claims of sexual assault might arise, if and when they do arise. Pathways through which sex that is unpleasant for various reasons can later be falsely remembered as coerced are considered, including roles of emotion in encoding and memory for sexual encounters involving voluntary sexual compliance and ineffective communication of nonconsent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]