Antonia Abbey

Antonia Abbey is a social psychologist and psychology professor who has been conducting research on sexual assault for more than 30 years. Her work examines sexual aggression, the role of alcohol in sexual assault, consent, and recovery from sexual assault victimization. Abbey has been interviewed by local and national media outlets, and she was recently interviewed by The New York Times about the testimony presented by Christine Blasey Ford during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing prior to the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“When a man is intoxicated, he can more easily focus on his immediate sexual gratification, sense of entitlement, and anger, rather than on his internalized sense of appropriate behavior, future regret, the victim’s suffering, or the possibility that he will be punished for his actions, making it easier for men already predisposed to sexual aggression to commit sexual assault."

- In Vox, Antonia Abbey

Her expertise includes: 

• Causes of sexual aggression
• The role of alcohol in sexual assault and sexual risk taking
• Psychosocial factors that impact a woman’s recovery from sexual assault victimization
• Consent and how people decide if someone is sexually attracted to them
• Preventing violence against women

Abbey is the current editor of Psychology of Violence and previously served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the development of their sexual violence prevention strategies.

Selected media clips:

• BBC: Is there such a thing as the 'friend-zone'? 
• The New York Times: Expecting women to describe how sexual assault affected them creates barriers to reporting it
• Vox: We need to talk about Brett Kavanaugh and alcohol
• Slate: Drinking with co-workers
• The New York Times: What experts know about men who rape
• The New York Times: Sorority anti-rape idea: drinking on own turf

View her complete faculty profile here.