The Influence of Gender Ideology, Victim Resistance, and Spiking a Drink on Acquaintance Rape Attributions

The current study examined observer's attributions about the victim and perpetrator of an alleged acquaintance rape. 

Participants included 504 college students from a public university in the northeastern United States who read a brief crime report and completed a series of questionnaires for course credit. While men tended to attribute more blame to the victim than women, gender ideology emerged as a stronger predictor of rape attributions, and some types of sexist beliefs were associated with greater victim blaming and others with less victim blaming. 

Endorsement of hostile sexism, rape myths, and heterosexual intimacy was generally associated with the attribution of greater victim culpability, as well as less perpetrator culpability, perpetrator criminality, and victim credibility. However, complementary gender differentiation was associated with greater perpetrator culpability and criminality, while protective paternalism was associated with greater victim credibility. Observers attributed lower victim culpability and greater perpetrator criminality when the victim's drink was spiked, and attributed greater perpetrator culpability when the victim verbally resisted the perpetrator's advances. 

Given the implications that observer attitudes can have on professional and personal support for survivors, as well as juror decision making, the ongoing examination of the complex interplay between the person and situational factors affecting attributions of rape is essential. Sexual assault prevention programs may also benefit from a psychoeducational component that targets reducing traditional gender ideology.

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By:  Angelone DJ1, Mitchell D2, Smith D3.

• 1Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA angeloned@rowan.edu.
• 2Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, USA.
• 3Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA. 
• J Interpers Violence. 2016 Feb 24. pii: 0886260516635318

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Male Peer Support to Hostile Sexist Attitudes Influences Rape Proclivity

Sexual assault affects a large proportion of women in the world. Although most rapes are committed by one man, the act itself may be influenced by many (e.g., the peer group). Hostile sexism (HS) has repeatedly been associated with men's rape proclivity, but the influence exerted by the HS of the peer group on rape proclivity has not been investigated. In this study, we explored the impact of perceived male peer support to HS on participants' rape proclivity. 

A sample of Spanish undergraduate students from a university in the south of Spain (N = 134) completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. Immediately afterwards, they received feedback on the supposed sexist responses of a peer group (high vs. low in HS); we kept the benevolent sexism (BS) of the peer group at medium levels. Next, we assessed participants' rape proclivity using acquaintance rape scenarios. 

Results showed an interaction between participants' own levels of HS and information about the HS of the peer group. Men high in HS reported higher rape proclivity in the high-HS peer-group condition than in the low-HS peer-group condition. By contrast, information on the peer group did not affect self-reported rape proclivity of men low in HS. 

Results also corroborated the relationship between participants' levels of HS and rape proclivity, and expanded the literature by revealing an unexpected influence of participants' BS on rape proclivity.

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By:  Durán M1, Megías JL2, Moya M2.

• 1Universidad de Sevilla (http://www.us.es/eng), Spain mduransegura@us.es.
• 2Universidad de Granada, Spain.
• J Interpers Violence. 2016 Jan 12. pii: 0886260515624212. 

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Men's Perceptions of an Acquaintance Rape: The Role of Relationship Length, Victim Resistance, and Gender Role Attitudes

Sexual aggression is a persistent and prevalent issue in the United States, which often results in a number of psychological, emotional, and physical consequences for victims. The current study examined whether the length of relationship between the victim and perpetrator, level of victim resistance, and observers' gender role attitudes play a role in observers' perceptions of an alleged sexual assault. 

Participants included 297 male college students from a public university in the Northeastern United States. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant effects for length of relationship on participants' attributions. Relative to no resistance, verbal and physical strategies by the victim predicted higher levels of victim credibility, perpetrator culpability, and perpetrator guilt, as well as lower levels of victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. Endorsement of traditional adversarial sex role beliefs and hostile sexist attitudes, as opposed to egalitarian attitudes, were associated with the attribution of less credibility to the victim, perceived victim trauma, perpetrator culpability, perpetrator guilt, and shorter recommended prison sentences, as well as greater victim culpability and perceived victim pleasure. 

Laypersons' perceptions of sexual assault merit further study, as they are relevant to juror decision making and third party responses to sexual victimization (e.g., peer support for victim) and can contribute to the secondary victimization and recovery of survivors of sexual assault.

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By: Angelone DJ1, Mitchell D2, Grossi L3.

• 1Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA 
• 2Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT, USA.
• 3Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA.

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