Understanding the phenomena of dating aggression and sexual coercion, common aspects of the college experience, have often focused on two sets of attitudinal and cognitive variables: (1) beliefs defining differential roles and privileges as a function of gender and (2) beliefs associated with the nature and meaning of sexual coercion. Recent developments in the conceptualization of both sexism and rape supporting beliefs have greatly expanded the understanding of these constructs. In the mid-1990's, the development of new, second-generation measures of these constructs came into place. However, little is understood about how these second-generation measures relate to each other or relate to dating aggression and sexual coercion. This article reviews the development of these new measures, investigates the relationships between them, and studies their association with relationship aggression and sexual coercion. Second-generation measures are then used to help distinguish between aggression associated with specific sexist or rape-supporting beliefs and aggression associated with a generalized hostility toward women. With both theoretical and practical implications the findings suggest that at least within the college sample examined, aggression toward women and sexual coercion are more closely related to hostility toward women than to more complex schemas. Relationships between attitude measures appeared to be based primarily on shared belief systems. However, relationships between attitude measures and aggressive behavior appeared to be based primarily on generalized hostility toward women. Tables, appendix and references