Abnormal Sexual Assault Situations and Its Influence on Rape Myth Acceptance (original) (raw)
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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.
Journal of Research in Personality, 1999
A series of six studies were conducted to explore the structure underlying rape myths and to develop the 45-item Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (''IRMA''). In the first study, 604 participants (mean age 18.8 years, 53% women) rated their level of agreement with 95 pretested rape myth statements. Exploratory and confirmatory multivariate analyses revealed a structure consisting of both a general myth component and seven subcomponents. This structure was replicated in a second study using a new sample and paired comparisons methodology. Study 3 details the development procedures for the IRMA and presents statistics demonstrating its good psychometric properties. Finally, Studies 4-6 support the construct validity of the IRMA. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, measurement, future research, and intervention.
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 o...
She asked for it: statistics and predictors of rape myth acceptance
2016
Where rape exists, there are people who believe in cultural myths about rape causes and victims. Acceptance of these rape myths increases and decreases based on many predictors; the present study investigated how rape myth acceptance varied in different populations on the campus of a small, private, liberal arts university. Although overall rape myth acceptance on campus was relatively low, analyses revealed that female participant sex, knowing a victim, and being able to identify contextual sexual assaults were predictive of lower rape myth acceptance. Additional hypotheses and research questions were tested but showed non-significant results. The findings of this study can be used to advise faculty and staff regarding specific programs aimed at further lowering rape myth acceptance on campus; specific details and suggestions are discussed.
Male Rape Myths, Female Rape Myths, and Intent to Intervene as a Bystander
Violence and Gender, 2015
The bystander approach to sexual assault prevention has become popular on college campuses and within the military. Previous research has identified a negative association between the acceptance of rape myths and the likelihood of individuals intervening in a sexual assault situation. However, to date, all examinations of rape myth acceptance (RMA) and bystander intervention have focused on female rape myths (i.e., myths about rape involving a female victim). The current study explored whether male RMA (i.e., acceptance of myths about rape involving a male victim) influences bystander intervention in similar or differing ways compared with female RMA. In addition, the study explored whether male and female RMA function differently by subtypes of bystander intervention (i.e., known victim vs. stranger victim) and bystander gender. Participants included 970 students (731 men, 239 women) entering the United States Naval Academy. Participants completed the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale-Short Form, a 30-item male RMA scale, and the Intent to Help Friends and Intent to Help Strangers scales. The findings indicated that higher acceptance of both female and male rape myths was associated with a lowered intent to help someone known to the bystander. In contrast, after controlling for both types of RMA, only male RMA had a negative relationship with intent to help a stranger. These findings highlight the need to incorporate a discussion of male victimization and associated myths into bystander intervention programs.
Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1994
Theories of sexual aggression and victimization have increasingly emphasized the role of rape myths in the perpetuation of sexual assault. Rape myths are attitudes and generally false beliefs about rape that are widely and persistently held, and that serve to deny and justify male sexual aggression against women. Acceptance of such myths has been assessed with a number of measures, and investigators have examined its relationship with numerous variables and interventions. Although there has been extensive research in this area, definitions, terminology, and measures of rape myth acceptance (RMA) continue to lack adequate theoretical and psychometric precision. Despite such criticisms, we emphasize that the significance of this type of research cannot be overstated because it has immense potential for the understanding of sexual assault. The present article offers a theory-based definition of rape myths, reviews and critiques the literature on rape myth acceptance, and suggests directions for future research. In particular we argue that such work must include the development and application of improved measures, with more concern for the theoretical and methodological issues unique to this field.
Aggression and Violent Behavior
Rape myth acceptance is considered an established risk factor for male-onfemale sexual violence, and is therefore the target of a number of primary prevention programmes. However, there is not a clear evidence base substantiating the role of rape myth acceptance in sexual violence, nor any reviews of recent literature. This review systematically searched relevant Psychology and Social Science databases in Autumn 2016, in order to collate cross-sectional and longitudinal research on the association between rape myth acceptance and self-reported sexual violence. The analysis established associations between these variables in all but one study (Warren, Swan, & Allen, 2015), and two longitudinal studies demonstrated that rape myth acceptance differentiates non-perpetrators from those who go on to exhibit sexual violence behaviours. These findings provide support for the targeting of rape myth acceptance in primary prevention strategies. However, a number of failings within this literature were also identified: instruments used to analyse rape myth acceptance were widely varied; the comprehensiveness of study reporting was universally flawed; measures were rarely taken to ensure participants were heterosexual men; and there remains a dearth of longitudinal evidence, as well as a lack of research outside of the United States. Future directions and other limitations are discussed.
A Psychometric Analysis and Practical Application of the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale
Mark D. Morin, 1992
This study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA), Adversarial Sexual Beliefs (ASB), and Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence (AIV) scales as well as to assess whether high and low RMA males would differ in their perceptions of date rape. In Study 1, male subjects were asked to respond to the items that constitute Burt's RMA, ASB, and AIV scales. In Study 2, high and low scoring RMA males rated females' resistance during five stages of interaction with sexually assaultive males. When informed that each vignette culminated in intercourse, subjects also attributed this outcome to voluntary consent or forcible rape. The results of Study 1 were mixed. While item analyses produced results similar to earlier findings, both factor and regression analyses did not. Factor analysis showed that the underlying structure of the RMA scale remained stable over time, while the structures of the ASB and AIV scales did not. The regression analysis showed that ASB scores rather than AIV scores were the single best predictor of RMA scores. Additionally, Study 1 produced a refined attitudes toward rape scale that was relatively clean conceptually and sound psychometrically. The results for Study 2 were also mixed. Contrary to the hypothesis, high scoring RMA subjects did not judge low resisting females to be less resistant during the early stages of the rape vignettes than did low scoring RMA subjects. In fact, no evidence was obtained to show that RMA scores had a significant effect on any continuous rating of resistance. In contrast, high RMA subjects selected voluntary consent significantly more often than did low RMA subjects on the dichotomous measure of choice. Discussion indicated that the failure to replicate previous factor analytic results was probably due to chance, while the failure to replicate previous regression results was probably due to a genuine shift in attitudes that separates violence from date rape. Discussion also illustrated why the refined Attitudes Toward Rape Scale is potentially a better measure than the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale and why both scales may be more likely to produce globalized rather than localized effects. Suggestions for future research were also offered.
Violence and victims, 2015
A common perception is that police officers hold very negative attitudes about rape victims. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to establish whether police officers do accept stereotypical rape myths at a higher level compared to members of other populations. There were 3 comparison samples, composed of police officers, law students, and psychology students, that completed the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance scale. Male and female police officers accepted "she lied" myths at a higher level than the student samples. Student samples were found to accept 2 types of rape myths ("she asked for it" and "he didn't meant to") at a higher level compared to police officers. No significant differences were found in the other 4 subfactors. Therefore, the pattern of results suggests that police officers do not adhere to stereotypical myths about rape victims more than do other populations.
Gender Issues, 2018
This study investigated the effects of contextual and individual difference features on perceptions of believability of a hypothetical sexual assault victim's report. Undergraduates read a vignette describing an alleged sexual assault in which the victim was either poor or wealthy and rated the woman's believability. In both socioeconomic status conditions, participants then learned that the victim and perpetrator had a previous, consensual sexual relationship and consumed alcohol at the time of the assault and provided a second and third believability rating. Believability ratings decreased as additional information was provided. Men, participants with greater rape myth acceptance, and men with lower levels of rape empathy rated the victim's believability as significantly lower than women, participants with less rape myth acceptance, and men with higher rape empathy. Based on study findings, we provide recommendations for college campuses and law enforcement groups working with sexual assault victims.