“It is all her fault”: psychosocial correlates of the negative attitudes towards rape victims among the general population of Pakistan (original) (raw)
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Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2023
Background Rape myths may harm those who have been sexually assaulted, according to the past literature. This study looked at the associations between grandiose narcissism, psychopathic characteristics, and rape myth acceptance and attitudes towards rape victims in Pakistan. The issue of sexual violence against women and how specific personality characteristics, such as psychopathy, grandiose narcissism, and rape-supporting ideas, may lead to unfavourable views towards sexual assault victims are still being debated. In affluent nations, there has been substantial study on the psychological aspects that influence attitudes towards rape victims, but information on developing nations like Pakistan is lacking. Method The study used a cross-sectional methodology with a purposive sample of 430 individuals, ranging in age from 18 to 68. The appropriate sample size was determined using a G*Power analysis. In order to analyse the data, SPSS 21.0 was used. Stepwise regression, MANOVA, and moderated mediation analysis were all used. Results All variables showed acceptable levels of Cronbach's alpha reliability. Rape myth acceptance was significantly associated with attitudes towards rape, primary and secondary psychopathy, and grandiose narcissism. Rape myth acceptance, primary psychopathy, and grandiose narcissism significantly predicted attitudes towards rape victims. Moreover, grandiose narcissism showed a conditional indirect effect through primary psychopathy on the relationship between rape myth acceptance and attitudes towards rape victims, according to the results, which showed that rape myth acceptance, primary psychopathy, and those attitudes all had significant effects on attitudes towards rape victims. Conclusions In conclusion, it has been assessed that unfavourable views towards victims of sexual assault in Pakistan were substantially correlated with high levels of rape myth acceptance, primary psychopathy, and grandiose narcissism. Furthermore, the study discovered that these variables strongly impacted views towards rape victims. Additionally, rape myth acceptance, levels of primary psychopathy, and attitudes towards rape victims all showed significant gender differences. Moreover, grandiose narcissism had a significant conditional effect on the association between rape myth acceptance and attitudes towards rape victims via the mediation of primary psychopathy. Secondary psychopathy did not play a role in this predictive relationship.
Social Perception of RapeHow Rape Myth Acceptance Modulates the Influence of Situational Factors
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2004
This study assessed the role of rape myth acceptance (RMA) and situational factors in the perception of three different rape scenarios (date rape, marital rape, and stranger rape). One hundred and eighty-two psychology undergraduates were asked to emit four judgements about each rape situation: victim responsibility, perpetrator responsibility, intensity of trauma, and likelihood to report the crime to the police. It was hypothesized that neither RMA nor situational factors alone can explain how rape is perceived; it is the interaction between these two factors that best account for social reactions to sexual aggression. The results generally supported the authors' hypothesis: Victim blame, estimation of trauma, and the likelihood of reporting the crime to the police were best explained by the interaction between observer characteristics, such as RMA, and situational clues. That is, the less stereotypic the rape situation was, the greater was the influence of attitudes toward rape on attributions.
A study on attitude towards rape myths and survivors of rape amongst college students in Bangalore
International journal of scientific research, 2015
Rape seems to have taken a common form of violence and attitudes have been of central concern in relation to such violence. The aim of this study was to examine the current state of rape myth acceptance, attitude towards rape survivors among college students and the predictors for formation of attitude towards rape survivors. Findings based on the sample size of 275 college students showed that higher the rejection of rape myths, lower will be the unfavorable attitude towards survivors of rape. Regression analysis indicates that the variables ‘She asked for it’, ‘He didn’t mean to’ and ‘She lied’ inversely predicts unfavourable attitude towards the rape survivor. Chi-square analysis showed that males are less likely to reject rape myths and have high unfavourable attitude towards rape survivors than females.
Rape Victims' Attitudes to Rape Myth Acceptance
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 2012
The present study examined victims' attitudes to rape and rape-reporting behaviour. There were 36 Rape Victims, and approximately half reported their rape to the police (Rape Victim – Report) and half did not report their rape to the police (Rape Victim – Not Report). There were 42 Crime Victims, and approximately half reported the crime to the police (Crime Victim
Rape myth acceptance, victim blame attribution and Just World Beliefs: A rapid evidence assessment
Aggression and Violent Behavior
Background Rape is underreported, potentially because individuals self-blame and/or are blamed by others. Research predominantly illustrates male-perpetrated stranger-rape of females; thus, there may be a perception that rape-myth acceptance (RMA) and victim-blaming are most prevalent in males. The purpose of this rapid evidence assessment was to investigate the availability of high-quality research into the effects of Just World Beliefs, perpetrator/victim gender, and stranger-and acquaintance/marital-rape scenarios on victim-blaming and RMA. Methods Several electronic databases were searched for empirical papers using terms including: 'victim blame', 'rape myth acceptance', 'Just World Beliefs', 'type of rape' and 'gender'. Gough's (2007) weight of evidence framework was used to assess quality prior to inclusion. Findings Studies retained after filtering and quality assessment suggested that RMA was predictive of victim-blaming with both male and female 'victims'. Rape-myth acceptance is more prevalent in males even in male 'victim' scenarios, and Just World Belief was positively associated with RMA. Greater victim-blaming was attributed in stranger-vs. acquaintancerape scenarios. Discussion There are no absolute conclusions regarding the role of gender or situational factors and rapesupportive/victim-blaming attitudes. Further empirical research is required to understand the prevalence of RMA in perceptions of marital rape and, particularly, homosexual marital rape.
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2008
In 2004 in Australia, controversy over the alleged involvement of elite footballers in incidents of sexual assault highlighted a tendency to denigrate the victims and excuse the perpetrators. To investigate whether rape myths were prevalent enough to explain this public response, 102 university students were surveyed for their beliefs and determinations of blame in rape situations. Although there was a gender difference in the rates of rape myth acceptance, with males more likely to accept these beliefs, these were not evident in decisions about victim blame or perpetrator blame. However, males and high rape myth acceptors were significantly more likely to minimize the seriousness of the rape situation. These effects increased with familiarity depicted in the situation.
Ambivalent Sexism towards Women and Acceptance of Rape Myths among University Students
Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Victims of rape sometimes suffer from being blamed for their assault. The present study aimed to investigate whether hostile sexism, benevolent sexism influence acceptance of rape myths. The sample comprised of 240 university students recruited from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Demographic information sheet, Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA) [24], Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) [13] and scales were used for assessment. Results from Bivariate Correlation analysis showed that, Hostile sexism and subscales of benevolent sexist beliefs are positively correlated with rape myths. Subscales of Ambivalent Sexism (Hostile sexism, Paternalism, Heterosexuality and Gender differentiation) positively predicted subscales of Rape myths acceptance (she asked for it, it wasn't really rape, he didn't mean to and she lied). Results further showed that males had higher acceptance with Rape Myths and Ambivalent Sexism. Findings from the present study suggest that there is need to tackle negative stereotypes about rape victims and Interventions should focus more on the education on what rape and sexual assault are and what the health and legal consequences entail.
The internalisation and normalisation process of rape myth acceptance: a qualitative study
Istanbul University - DergiPark, 2022
The purpose of this study is to explore the general perception of the female rape victims and identify aspects constructing victim-blaming attitude in college students. This study generated qualitative design method with an in-depth interview in data collection. The number of participants in this study is fourteen consisted of seven males and seven female college students in Indonesia. This study examined the perspective toward female rape victim by evaluating aspects appeared within rape scope and rape myth acceptance topic. The result showed that there are an internalisation and normalisation process behind the act of victim blaming in Indonesia.
Rape myth acceptance is lower and predicts harsher evaluations of rape among impacted people
Social psychological bulletin, 2022
Public reactions to rape are often distorted by the acceptance of so-called rape myths. The goal of our research was to examine how rape myth acceptance (RMA) is connected to the evaluation of rape cases among survivors, unimpacted people, and those impacted by rape through a close relation, who can potentially be important allies of survivors in bringing about social change. We tested these connections in three online survey studies. In Study 1 (N = 758) we found that those impacted by rape personally or through a close relation accepted rape myths less. In Study 2, using a nationally representative sample in Hungary (N = 1007), we tested whether RMA predicted uncertain rape cases more strongly than certain (i.e., stereotypical) ones, considering that a stereotypical rape scenario is condemned by most members of society, but not all rape is labeled as such. We found that RMA predicted the evaluation of both rape scenarios, but the prediction was stronger when rape was uncertain. In Study 3 (N = 384), in a pre-registered study we examined how RMA predicted the evaluation of rape cases amongst people with different previous experiences (impacted/unimpacted). We found that unimpacted people accepted rape myths more, blamed the victim more and labeled the case less as rape when the case was uncertain. These findings suggest that rape myth acceptance functions as cognitive schema and that rape impacted people could have a key role not only in the life of survivors but as allies for social change as well.
The Structure of Rape Attitudes for Men and Women: A Three-Factor Model
Journal of Research in Personality, 1998
The present study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to evaluate the generalizability of extant measurement models derived for the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMA; Burt, 1980; Briere, Malamuth, & Check, 1985). For samples of females restricted or unrestricted by current romantic relationship status, and for an unrestricted sample of males, models were inadequate. For both female samples, RMA responses were best explained by a modified 12-item version of Briere et al.'s original model. The new model consisted of three correlated factors (Disbelief of Rape Claims, Blame the Victim, Rape Reports as Manipulation). Demonstrating gender invariance, multi-group analyses revealed that the three-factor model provided a comparable goodness-of-fit for male data. Additional analyses demonstrated the discriminant validity of the three RMA factors when considered as a function of individual differences in dispositional empathy among males and females. Future researchers can use the oblique three-factor model to better conceptualize and measure rape myth beliefs.