This study explored how young heterosexual men understand and apply sexual consent, especially when it is ambiguous. Through qualitative interviews, we examined their definitions of consent, views on verbal consent-seeking, and decision-making processes. Three findings emerged. First, participants consistently cited a conventional definition-free, ongoing, and explicit-but struggled to apply it in practice. Second, most found verbal requests for consent awkward, unnecessary, or disruptive. Third, all described using a process we term multi-factor authentication: an intuitive system in which consent is inferred from mutuality (reciprocated, escalating cues) combined with contextual indicators such as trust, timing, location, and occasional verbal check-ins. Alcohol use and clothing were rarely considered relevant. Instead, men emphasized emotional intimacy-trust, empathy, connection, and vulnerability-as central to consensual sex. These findings suggest that while consent education has successfully conveyed the principle that sex must be consensual, it offers few practical strategies for implementation. Recognizing multi-factor authentication as a key framework can inform education that addresses both normative definitions of consent and the complex realities of sexual encounters.
Forrest et al. (Tue,) studied this question.