Understanding Attributions of Blame in Stranger Rape and Date Rape Situations: An Examination of Gender, Race, Identification, and Students' Social Perceptions of Rape Victims1

"It's Your Own Fault": Factors Influencing Victim Blaming

This study examined the association between victimization and victim blaming using a sample of n = 142 participants in a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) with the influence of subject gender, victim stereotyping level, threat level, and victim gender for victim blaming. Belief in a just world was included in the model as a covariate. Mediation analyses were conducted with the degree of identifiability with the victim and attitudes toward traditional role models as explanatory approaches. In addition, acceptance of rape myths was considered. The GLMM analyses suggest that victim blaming by male subjects was significantly higher on average than by female subjects when all other predictors were held constant. As an explanatory approach for these effects of the subjects' gender on victim blaming, partial mediation was found with the degree of identification with the victim as a mediator. No main effects were found for the other influencing factors, but only a statistically significant three-way interaction. This indicates a differential effect of the level of stereotyping for male and female victims in conditions that end in high threat. The finding of the main effect of subjects' gender seems to be particularly important for the legal system, as it appears to make a difference in who is asked in terms of victim blameworthiness. This finding highlights the importance of considering a victim's personal characteristics and the need for future research with an additional focus on the characteristics of the sentencers to help clarify potential biases.

Relations Between Rape Myths, Ambivalent Sexism, Social Dominance Orientation, and Right-Wing Authoritarianism Across Gay and Straight Women and Men: More Similar Than Dissimilar

Rape myths support and fuel cultural understandings regarding gender roles and deny the victim's rights and strengthen those of the instigator. Little research exists examining the invariance of rape myths measures and models used to explain rape myths across gay and straight samples. Examining correlates of rape myths and determining if the pattern of relations between correlates is similar across gay and straight male and female samples provides insights into socially constant factors that are influencing rape myth acceptance. Participants (294 straight women, 282 gay women, 293 straight men, and 234 gay men) were asked to complete measures of social dominance orientation (SDO), right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), ambivalent sexism toward women, ambivalent sexism toward men, and rape myths toward women. We tested four models that highlighted significant, direct paths between SDO, RWA, and rape myth acceptance. Both hostile sexism toward women and benevolent sexism toward men demonstrated significant indirect effects between SDO, RWA, and rape myth acceptance. Benevolent sexism toward women and hostile sexism toward men demonstrated, in most samples, significant indirect effects between SDO, RWA, and rape myth acceptance. However, the strength of those relations differed for gay and heterosexual samples. This provides further understanding of rape myths as SDO, RWA, and benevolent and hostile sexism toward men and women play a role in supporting rape myth acceptance and establishes that, overall, these relations are more similar than dissimilar across straight and gay samples.

When does "no" mean no? Insights from sex robots

Although sexual assault is widely accepted as morally wrong, not all instances of sexual assault are evaluated in the same way. Here, we ask whether different characteristics of victims affect people's moral evaluations of sexual assault perpetrators, and if so, how. We focus on sex robots (i.e., artificially intelligent humanoid social robots designed for sexual gratification) as victims in the present studies because they serve as a clean canvas onto which we can paint different human-like attributes to probe people's moral intuitions regarding sensitive topics. Across four pre-registered experiments conducted with American adults on Prolific (N = 2104), we asked people to evaluate the wrongness of sexual assault against AI-powered robots. People's moral judgments were influenced by the victim's mental capacities (Studies 1 & 2), the victim's interpersonal function (Study 3), the victim's ontological type (Study 4), and the transactional context of the human-robot relationship (Study 4). Overall, by investigating moral reasoning about transgressions against AI robots, we were able to gain unique insights into how people's moral judgments about sexual transgressions can be influenced by victim attributes.

Attributions of Blame in Stranger and Acquaintance Rape: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Victim blame, particularly in cases of acquaintance rape, presents an obstacle to criminal justice. Past research indicates that acquaintance rape results in more blame than stranger rape. However, there are inconsistencies in these findings (e.g., whether there is a linear relationship between victim blame and relationship closeness), partly due to methodological variation.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the effect of victim-perpetrator relationship on victim blame, how this effect is impacted by rape myth acceptance (RMA) and ambivalent sexism (AS), and to establish what the methodological quality is of studies.

SYNTHESIS METHOD

Studies were synthesized through a multilevel meta-analysis using the Metafor package in R (version 2.4-0), synthesizing findings from 47 individual studies. Studies compared victim blame between stranger and acquaintance rape, in isolation or in conjunction with RMA and AS, and were identified through a database search.

RESULTS

The review found higher levels of blame in acquaintance as compared to stranger rape, with a medium effect size. This effect was not moderated by RMA. AS was not included as a moderator in the meta-analysis, but the review indicated that benevolent sexism may be a particularly relevant variable.

IMPLICATIONS

Future research should examine the relationship between AS and victim blame. The current review contributes to the evidence base on victim blame in rape cases by suggesting that methodological limitations can account for some of the past mixed findings in this area, particularly in a lack of consistency in vignette details. It is recommended that future sexual assault research uses rigorous methodology and increases transparency of research processes.

The Role of Defensive Pessimism and Love and Sex Perception on Rape Victim Blame Attribution among Public Servants in a Nigerian City

Existing literature have decried the propensity to blame victims of rape which ultimately translates worryingly into a tolerance of crimes against persons. Being a lopsided and an understudied phenomenon, the present study sets out to explore the role of defensive pessimism and love, and sex perception on rape victim blaming among civil servants in Akwa Ibom State Civil Service Commission, Nigeria. Using a cross-sectional survey research design, 167 civil servants were recruited, comprising 84 males and 83 females, with mean age of 36.29 and standard deviation of 8.53. To measure variables of interest, three instruments: Perception of Love and Sex Scale, Attitudes Towards Rape Victims Scale, and the revised Defensive Pessimism Questionnaire were adopted. To analyze the information obtained from the measuring instruments, descriptive and regression statistics were employed, and results indicated that the less defensive pessimism civil servants reported, the more victim blame they exhibited. Findings also revealed that civil servants who perceived love and sex negatively reported more victim blame. From this study, a new link was formed between variables of interest and the need for adequate mass sensitization on the urgent need of condemning strongly acts of rape and sexual assaults, coupled with advocacy for desensitization on victim blame among "survivors" (rape victims).

Rape myth acceptance is lower and predicts harsher evaluations of rape among impacted people

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.

Spatial and Temporal Distance Between the Victim and Offender as a Factor in Protective Order Violations: How Much Distance is Enough?

Research on the effectiveness of protective orders indicates that they have only marginal protective value for the victim. This exploratory study investigated how the physical distance and temporal distance between the victim and offender corresponds to the percent of protective order violations. Results indicated that the percent of protective order violations was reduced to virtually zero when the victim and offender lived 25 miles or more apart. Surprisingly, this condition held for all types of contacts examined (physical, telephone, and cyber). The study concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the findings and suggestions for future research.

Does Perpetrator Occupation Affect Classification of Sexual Assault?

Classification of sexual assault varies based on the characteristics of the victim, perpetrator, and event. However, most studies focus on the individual characteristics of participants asked to classify the assault, the victims' characteristics, or the event; few have examined variations in the perpetrator. Therefore, this study examined whether the occupation of the perpetrator affected the classification of the event as sexual assault. Participants included a primarily White female sample of undergraduate students (n = 401) at a south-Atlantic university. They completed a paper-and-pencil survey containing an ambiguous sexual assault encounter where the occupation of the perpetrator (athlete, reporter, college student, or politician) was randomly varied. Participants were asked to classify whether the encounter was sexual assault and what an appropriate punishment might be. Additional measures included the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA) and questions about personal experience with sexual assault. Overall, most participants labeled the encounter as sexual assault, indicating that college students are aware of the legal parameters for providing consent. However, this classification occurred differentially based on the occupation of the perpetrator. Participants were most likely to label the athlete as committing sexual assault, followed by the college student, politician, and reporter, respectively. Females and those who reject rape myths were more likely to label the scenario as sexual assault. A "personal apology" and a "sexual rehabilitation program" were the most common punishments selected for the perpetrator. These findings highlight potential concerns and the need for additional training when college students adjudicate sexual assault reports and determine appropriate consequences.

The Influence of Gender on Perceptions of Culpability and Victim Status in Statutory Rape Offenses Involving Teachers

Perceptions of child sexual abuse and statutory rape vary based on the gender of the victim, the perpetrator, and the combination of both. We extend existing research to examine attributions of responsibility and punitive preferences for student victims in student-teacher sexual relationships contingent on the gender dyad of the student and teacher and the interaction between the gender dyad and respondent gender. Participants (N = 648) were randomly assigned to vignettes wherein the gender of the student and teacher were manipulated (female teacher/male student; female teacher/female student; male teacher/female student; male teacher/male student). Overall, respondents were "pro-victim," though results indicate significant differences in respondent gender and how the gender dyads were perceived. Students in the male same-sex dyads were attributed less responsibility than other students. Furthermore, men were less likely to perceive the student as a victim, and women were more likely to indicate the student should be punished.

Resisting Unwanted Sexual and Social Advances: Perspectives of College Women and Men

This study examines college men's (N = 635) and women's (N = 650) reports of women's resistance against unwanted sexual and social advances. Men completed surveys to assess (a) initiation of unwanted sexual contact with a female partner, (b) initiation of unwanted sexual intercourse with a female partner, (c) sexual situations where a female partner decided she did not want to proceed, (d) encouraging a woman to drink when they were aware that the woman did not want to, and (e) attempting to take a woman to an isolated location against her will. Women completed corresponding questionnaires regarding the receipt of such unwanted advances, the outcome of the situation, and the resistance tactics utilized. Many men (5%-46%) and women (15%-38%) initiated or experienced, respectively, at least one of the five unwanted sexual or social advances. Unwanted sexual and social advances most often stopped as a result of women's verbal and physical resistance. Few advances (0%-8%) stopped as a result of bystander intervention. In addition to decreasing men's likelihood of engaging in unwanted sexual and social advances, these data highlight the importance of educating women on the effectiveness of verbal and physical resistance tactics, and increasing the frequency of prosocial bystander action on college campuses.

Sexual Assault Disclosure: The Effect of Victim Race and Perpetrator Type on Empathy, Culpability, and Service Referral for Survivors in a Hypothetical Scenario

The aftermath of sexual assault warrants further attention surrounding the responses provided by those to whom survivors disclose, especially when perpetrator type or victim race may affect whether the bystander response is supportive or attributes culpability to the victim. Disclosure responses have significant consequences for survivors' posttrauma mental health and formal help-seeking behavior. The current study used a sample of 348 self-report, paper-and-pencil surveys administered during the fall 2015 semester to a purposive sample of undergraduate students with a mean age of 20.94 years old at a midsized, Southern public university. Survey design included a randomly assigned 2 × 2 hypothetical sexual assault disclosure vignette. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of perpetrator type (stranger vs. acquaintance) and victim race (White vs. Black) on empathic concern, culpability attributions, and resource referral. Between-subjects factorial ANOVA and multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were estimated to identify the role of vignette manipulations, participant-sexual victimization history, and rape myth acceptance on empathy, culpability, and resource referral for the sexual assault survivor portrayed in the vignette. Multivariate analyses included main effects and moderation models. Findings revealed increased culpability and decreased resource referral for victims of acquaintance rape as compared with stranger rape, independent of victim race. Although no direct victim race effects emerged in the multivariate analyses, race moderated the effect of culpability on resource referral indicating culpability attributions decreased resource referral, but only when the victim was Black . Implications from the results presented here include a continued focus on bystander intervention strategies, empathy-building techniques, and educational programming targeting potential sexual assault disclosees and race stereotypes that disadvantage victims of color.

The Interaction Between Observer Sex and Sexual Identity on Attributions of Blame With a Heterosexual Female Victim

This article examines the difference in blame attribution between men and women, heterosexuals and homosexuals, and heterosexual males, heterosexual females, gay males, and lesbians in response to a vignette depicting the acquaintance rape of a heterosexual female (n = 177). While the levels of empathy for the victim and blaming of the perpetrator were high for every group and blaming of the victim and rape myth acceptance were low for every group, some important trends emerged. Consistent with previous research, women reported higher rates of empathy for the victim, lower rape myth acceptance, and lower victim blaming than did men. Men and homosexuals had higher rates of victim blaming and were more likely to excuse the perpetrator's behavior than were women and heterosexuals, respectively. Lesbians had various patterns where they were at times more similar to heterosexual males (e.g., how much they blamed the perpetrator) or heterosexual females (e.g. in terms of empathy levels). They were consistently different from gay males. Further, the majority of differences were attributed to gay males, who had the highest levels of victim blaming and empathy for the perpetrator, were the most likely to excuse the perpetrator's behavior, and had the highest rate of rape myth acceptance of all of the groups. We conclude that sex and sexual identity interact to shape attributions about rape and discuss avenues for future research to explore these patterns.

Stigmatization of posttraumatic stress disorder is altered by PTSD Knowledge and the precipitating trauma of the sufferer

BACKGROUND

Reducing stigma could improve well-being and decrease discrimination toward persons with mental illness.

AIM

The current study investigated the impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) knowledge and the characteristics of a person suffering from PTSD symptoms on stigmatization.

METHOD

University students (n = 560) read one of twelve vignettes describing someone with PTSD symptoms who varied by gender, military status, and precipitating trauma. Then, participants rated their own responses to the person in the vignette (i.e. personal stigma), their perception of how others would respond (i.e. perceived stigma), and their comfort with the person in different social settings (i.e. social distance) followed by a PTSD Knowledge Questionnaire.

RESULTS

PTSD knowledge was associated with decreased personal stigma and increased willingness to socialize with individuals in the vignettes. The precipitating trauma of the person in the vignette influenced perceived stigma ratings, lowering perceived stigma for those who had experienced a rape as opposed to a car accident. Neither the gender nor military status of the person in the vignette affected stigmatization.

CONCLUSIONS

The current findings underscore the importance of mental health education in reducing stigma and indicate that the type of precipitating trauma affects attitudes toward those with PTSD symptoms.

Reporting Crimes to the Police Depends on Relationship Networks: Effects of Ties Among Victims, Advisors, and Offenders

A victim's decision to report a crime to the police is typically made after talking with someone else, usually a friend or relative, but sometimes a stranger. The advice this person gives depends primarily on the seriousness of the crime, and to some extent on the gender and age of the victim. The present research, which used experimental vignettes, examined the role of social networks in reporting: How do the relationships among a victim, the advisor, and the offender affect the advice to report or not to report a violent or nonviolent crime? Results from Study 1 indicated that relationships matter: Crimes are least likely to be reported if the offender is part of the same triad as the victim and the advisor, and crimes are most likely to be reported if the victim, the advisor, and the offender are all strangers. Study 1 also found that males are more likely to protect friends who are offenders (by advising against reporting), while females are more likely to protect friends who are victims (by advising them to report). Study 2 found that the effect of these relationships on reporting is conditioned by the nature of the organization to which the offender belongs, such that males are particularly likely to protect their friends in athletic organizations and fraternities when accused of minor property crimes. Both studies found that gender differences in the advice to report are moderated by characteristics of the crime and triad structure.

It Won't Happen to Me: An Examination of the Effectiveness of Defensive Attribution in Rape Victim Blaming

Defensive attribution posits that victim blame results from one's underlying perception of vulnerability. The resulting blame is believed to reduce perceived similarity to the victim and vulnerability to victimization, though extant research has neglected to examine its effectiveness in men and women. The current study employed multigroup analysis structural equation modeling with 618 male and female undergraduates exposed to fictional police reports of a reported rape. The theory was partially supported; among women, defensive attribution of blame effectively reduced perceived vulnerability to sexual victimization, whereas among men, blame had no effect on perceived similarity or vulnerability. Recommendations for interventions to target perceived vulnerability are discussed.

Viewers' Perceptions of Objectified Images of Women in Alcohol Advertisements and Their Intentions to Intervene in Alcohol-Facilitated Sexual Assault Situations

Alcohol-facilitated sexual assault is a serious problem on college campuses, and bystander intervention has been shown to be a successful method in reducing sexual assaults. Although there are a number of factors associated with individuals' intentions to intervene in sexual assault situations, the media's cultural scripts that link alcohol consumption to sexual success may play a role. Alcohol advertisements, in particular, routinely portray women as sexual objects and often link alcohol consumption to sexual success; therefore, exposure to such content may be negatively associated with people's intentions to intervene in alcohol-facilitated sexual assault situations. Thus, the current study investigated if exposure to and perceptions of objectified images of women in alcoholic beverage advertisements were associated with college students' intentions to intervene in alcohol-facilitated sexual assault situations. Undergraduate college students (N = 1208) were randomly assigned to view three alcohol advertisements that either included highly-objectified or low-objectified women, and then they reported their perceptions of the women in each of the alcohol advertisements and their intentions to intervene in sexual assault situations. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that individuals' perceptions of alcohol advertisements moderate the relationship between exposure to objectifying alcohol advertisements and intentions to intervene in sexual assault situations.

Blaming the Victim of Acquaintance Rape: Individual, Situational, and Sociocultural Factors

Victims of rape are uniquely vulnerable for being blamed for their assault relative to victims of other interpersonal crimes and thus much research has been conducted to understand why this is the case. But the study of victim blaming in acquaintance rape cases is hindered by contradictory empirical results. Early investigations in victim blaming often treated acquaintance rapes and stranger rapes as synonymous and thus much of these data are suspect for drawing conclusions particular to acquaintance rape. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the research literature on victim blame in acquaintance rape cases, highlighting inconsistencies and drawing particular attention to areas of research in need of further exploration. Specifically, we review the commonly studied individual (perceiver) factors that influence victim blaming, as well as common situational (target) factors included or manipulated within sexual assault scenarios. Our review reveals many inconsistent findings and interactions between perceiver and scenario factors. In an effort to make sense of these complex interactions and inconsistent findings, we suggest a need for more transparency in describing the scenarios used in research on victim blaming in sexual assault cases and greater empirical attention to sociocultural factors that may influence blaming tendencies.

Can empathy close the racial divide and gender gap in death penalty support?

Public opinion data indicate that the majority of US respondents support the death penalty. Research has consistently indicated, however, that Blacks and females are significantly less likely to support capital punishment than their White and male counterparts. Past research efforts attempting to account for these differences have, at best, only partially accounted for them: the racial divide and gender gap in death penalty support, while narrowed, remained evident. This study proposes that empathy, particularly ethnocultural empathy, may be a key explanatory correlate of death penalty support and that racial and gender differences in empathy may fully explain the observed racial and gender differences in death penalty support. This study uses three forms of empathy measures (cognitive, affective, and ethnocultural) to test this hypothesis using survey data from a sample of undergraduate students. Our results show that neither a variety of other "known correlates" of death penalty support nor cognitive or affective empathy scales were able to fully account for the observed racial difference in death penalty support. Ethnocultural empathy, however, was successful in reducing the effect of race on death penalty support to nonsignificance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to have done so.

Perception of a Perpetrator as a Successful Person Predicts Decreased Moral Judgment of a Rape Case and Labeling it as Rape

Rape cases of celebrities and other influential figures have caught the public eye in recent years. Following the media attention to these cases, people made strong judgments either believing or doubting the victims. Even though some of these men were convicted, they tended to receive little jail time and continued to enjoy people's sympathy, as in the case of the Hungarian national swimming-coach. We examined whether opinions about the coach's rape were affected by rape myth acceptance (RMA) and the perception of the perpetrator as a successful person. We conducted two online surveys to reveal this connection at two different points. The case was still somewhat ambiguous at the time of data collection for Study 1 (N = 870) because the perpetrator denied it. However, Study 2 (N = 105) took place after the perpetrator admitted his crime. In line with our predictions, we found that in the uncertain context of Study 1, RMA and the perception of the perpetrator as a successful person predicted whether respondents labeled the incident as rape, and how the perpetrator's reactions were judged morally. In the certain condition of Study 2, RMA continued to predict moral judgments, but it no longer predicted whether the incident was labeled as rape. These findings showed that in the evaluation of a rape case of a popular and powerful person, perception of the perpetrator's success can affect the overall evaluation of the case based on the level of RMA. However, such a connection is more pronounced when there are still ambiguities regarding the rape. We therefore suggest that both RMA and the effect of the overall perception of the perpetrator are considered in rape prevention programs, because rape cases rarely appear as certain and unambiguous in the media.

The role of self-objectification and women's blame, sympathy, and support for a rape victim

Sexual aggression is prevalent and damaging in our culture, and sources of support or blame following an attack of this kind can be important influences on the recovery process. This pair of studies investigate the nature of women's blame reactions towards survivors of sexual aggression, as well as the potential for provision of sympathy and support. Specifically, we focused on the previously neglected role of female self-objectification. It was expected that increased self-objectification would lead to decreased sympathy and support, and more rape victim blame. However, results of Study 1 showed that chronic self-objectification was actually related to higher levels of sympathy and support for a rape victim. Study two built upon the limitations of study one, and examined similar questions. It was expected that women who engaged in greater self-objectification would again show greater sympathy and support for the victim, replicating study one's results, and this was supported with a different scale. The overall relationship between self-objectification and sympathy and support was driven by body-relevant control beliefs. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Disruptions in Emotion Regulation as a Mechanism Linking Community Violence Exposure to Adolescent Internalizing Problems

Although community violence is an established risk factor for youth aggression, less research has examined its relation with internalizing psychopathology. This study examined associations of community violence exposure with internalizing symptoms, and state and trait emotion dysregulation as mechanisms underlying these associations, in 287 adolescents aged 16-17 (45.6% male; 40.8% White). Community violence exposure was associated with internalizing symptoms, negative affect during peer evaluation, trait emotional reactivity, and infrequent problem solving. Multiple emotion dysregulation indices were also associated with internalizing symptoms. In simultaneous multiple mediator models, indirect effects of community violence on internalizing problems were significantly explained by state and trait emotion dysregulation. Findings implicate emotion dysregulation as one mechanism linking community violence exposure to adolescent internalizing symptoms.

Attributions of Blame in Acquaintance Rape Scenarios: The Role of Blame Scale Presentation Order

Three studies were conducted to examine the role of order effects in attributions of blame in cases of acquaintance rape. Participants were presented with a vignette describing an acquaintance rape and were then asked to respond to a victim blame scale and a perpetrator blame scale, the presentation order of which was manipulated. The results of Study 1 (n = 129) indicated that the participants who first responded to the perpetrator blame scale blamed the perpetrator less than the participants who first responded to the victim blame scale. This effect was replicated in Study 2 (n = 120) and Study 3 (n = 70), which was run 18 months after Study 2 and used a modified vignette. These findings suggest that order effects should be a methodological consideration in future studies on blame attribution.

Female Sex Offenders: Public Awareness and Attributions

Traditional gender roles, sex scripts, and the way female sex offenders are portrayed in the media may lead to misconceptions about who can commit sexual offenses. Sexual crimes by women may go unnoticed or unreported if there is a general lack of awareness that females commit these crimes. Data from the 2012 Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey were used to determine whether the public perceives women as capable sex offenders and the perceived causes of female sex offending. The traditional focus on male sex offenders by researchers, media, and politicians, in addition to gender stereotypes, introduces the possibility of group differences (e.g., between men and women) in perceptions of female sex offenders. Consequently, two secondary analyses were conducted that tested for group differences in both the public's perception of whether females can commit sex offenses and the explanations selected for why females sexually offend. The findings suggest that the public does perceive women as capable sex offenders, although there were group differences in the causal attributions for female sex offending.

Social Construction of Women as Legitimate Victims of Violence in Chinese Societies

Analyses of focus group discussions show that Chinese conceptions of women as legitimate victims of violence are constructed through representations of men as sick or being controlled by their impulses and of women as sex objects or naggers who trigger men's impulses or potential for violence. As women's behaviors are seen as precipitating factors, men are thus excused from their acts of violence and do not have to shoulder full responsibility for their violent behaviors. However, some young and educated Chinese reject various cultural myths, oppose victim-blaming explanations, and disrupt pro-violence social scripts

Attitudes Toward Rape

The purpose of this study is to investigate differences in attitudes toward rape between Asian and Caucasian college students. The Attitudes Toward Rape scale was used to measure beliefs about rape in a convenience sample of 169 college students. Three items regarding stranger rape myths were added. Findings suggest that Asian students are more likely than Caucasian students to believe women should be held responsible for preventing rape and to view sex as the primary motivation for rape. Asians also have stronger beliefs than Caucasians do that victims cause the rape and that most rapists are strangers. This research suggests that outreach programs can play an important role in providing information, education, and prevention regarding rape and that males and Asian students should be target populations for such programs.

Victim Blaming in Rape: Effects of Victim and Perpetrator Race, Type of Rape, and Participant Racism

Stereotypes about Black sexuality fostered hypotheses that racial factors and racism influence rape victim blaming. Predominantly White and Asian college students (170 men, 162 women) completed the Modern Racism Scale and evaluated a rape vignette varying victim race, perpetrator race, and rape type. As predicted, racial factors determined victim blaming. Compared to intraracial rapes, interracial rapes were less uniformly judged as “definitely rape” and were judged as having more culpable and less credible victims, and less culpable perpetrators. For men, racism scores positively predicted victim blaming in all rapes. For women, racism scores moderated victim blaming in interracial acquaintance rapes. In our conclusions, we emphasize the durability of racial stereotypes about rape and their influence on discriminatory adjudication outcomes.

Complainant Sexual History Evidence: Its Impact on Mock Jurors' Decisions

The current study examined the impact of complainant sexual history evidence on mock jurors' judgements in a sexual assault trial. One hundred and sixty-nine undergraduates listened to an audiotape of a sexual assault trial in which the sexual history between the complainant and defendant was systematically varied to include either sexual intercourse, kissing and petting, or no history information. The effectiveness of judicial limiting instructions that accompany the introduction of sexual history evidence at trial was also examined. Compared to the control condition, those who heard evidence involving prior sexual intercourse between the complainant and defendant were less likely to find the complainant credible, more likely to find her blameworthy, and more likely to believe she consented. The information failed, however, to influence participants' judgements about the defendant's belief in consent. As well, the presence of limiting instructions did little to curb the prejudicial influence of this information.

Responsibility Attribution for Violence Against Women: A Study of Chinese Public Service Professionals

This study examined how Chinese public service professionals attributed responsibility to victims and perpetrators of violence against women (VAW). A total of 2,308 Chinese public service professionals in Hong Kong completed questionnaires on attitudes toward women, VAW-related perceptions, and assignment of responsibility to actors in written VAW vignettes. Compared to agency professionals consisting of medical doctors, lawyers, and police officers, communal professionals consisting of psychologists, social workers, and nurses attributed a higher level of responsibility to VAW victims and perpetrators. For both professional groups, attitudes toward women and educational attainment were the most salient predictors of responsibility attribution to VAW victims and perpetrators. Perceived VAW effects on victims were also a robust predictor of responsibility attribution to perpetrators. With regard to group differences, gender was predictive of responsibility attribution for communal but not for agency professionals. Except for perpetrator responsibility attribution for agency professionals, age was also predictive of how professionals assigned responsibility to VAW victims and perpetrators.

Effects of Duration on Perceptions of Teacher Sexual Misconduct

This study explored how respondent gender, gender dyad (male teacher-female student versus female teacher-male student) and duration/frequency (weekly sexual contact over 4 months versus a single incident) affected perceptions of teacher-adolescent student sexual involvement. Respondents were 224 undergraduates (104 men, 120 women) recruited from a psychology research pool. Most (87%) were 18-21 years old, and 59% were Caucasian. Each respondent read one of four scenarios (varied by gender dyad and duration/frequency) depicting a teacher-adolescent student sexual interaction and then completed a series of questions about his or her perceptions. Results indicated that men perceived these experiences less negatively than did women, and the female teacher-male student dyad was viewed less negatively than the male teacher-female student dyad. Relatively few significant interactions emerged, and the only main effect for duration/frequency was for commitment. Results are discussed in terms of the need for more research and education.

Perceptions of Incapacitated Heterosexual Sexual Assault: Influences of Relationship Status, Perpetrator Intoxication, and Post-Assault Sleeping Arrangements

This investigation explored college students' victim-blaming behaviors in perceptions of incapacitated rape. Participants received a vignette about a man who had sexual intercourse with a woman who had lost consciousness due to alcohol, with the conditions varied across the vignettes: the relationship between the parties, the alcohol use of the man, and the post-assault sleeping arrangements. Results revealed that when the man was a stranger, participants attributed less responsibility for the incident to him, but were more likely to label the incident as "rape." Neither the alcohol use of the man nor the post-assault sleeping arrangements significantly influenced participants' perceptions.

Rape Myth Consistency and Gender Differences in Perceiving Rape Victims: A Meta-Analysis

An overview discusses feminist analyses of oppression, attitudes toward rape victims, and previously studied predictors of individuals' attitudes toward rape victims. To better understand such attitudes, this meta-analysis examines the moderating influences of various rape victim, perpetrator, and crime characteristics' rape myth consistency on gender differences in individuals' perceptions of rape victims (i.e., victim responsibility and blame attributions and rape minimizing attitudes). Consistent with feminist theoretical predictions, results indicated that, overall, men perceived rape victims more negatively than women did. However, this sex difference was moderated by the rape myth consistency within the rape vignettes. Implications for research are discussed.

Blame Attributions of Victims and Perpetrators: Effects of Victim Gender, Perpetrator Gender, and Relationship

Although research has been conducted on rape myth acceptance (RMA) and other factors associated with attribution formation, researchers have not yet determined how the combination of such factors simultaneously affects levels of victim blame and perpetrator blame. The current investigation recruited 221 students from an all-women's college to examine differences in blame attributions across RMA, victim gender, and perpetrator gender, and the relationship between the two parties (i.e., stranger vs. acquaintance). Results suggested that RMA, victim gender, and perpetrator gender account for a significant amount of variance in blame attributions for both victims and perpetrators. In sum, victim blame with female perpetrators was relatively consistent across levels of RMA, but increased substantially for male perpetrators as individuals endorsed higher levels of RMA. Perpetrator blame, however, was highest with male perpetrators when individuals endorsed low levels of RMA and lowest for male perpetrators when individuals endorsed relatively higher levels of RMA. Findings demonstrate the continued influence of RMA on blame attributions for both victims and perpetrators, and the stigma faced by male victims. More research is needed on the differing attributions of male and female victims and perpetrators, as well as differing attributions based on type of relationship. Such research will lead to a better and more thorough understanding of sexual assault and rape.

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.

Mechanism of bystander-blaming: defensive attribution, counterfactual thinking, and gender

Contemporary victimology recognizes that an understanding of the mechanism of blaming requires a comprehensive approach that includes the victim, the offender, and the bystander. However, most of the existing research on blaming focuses on the victim and the offender, ignoring the issue of bystander-blaming. This study highlights the bystander and investigates bystander-blaming by exploring some theoretical explanations, including counterfactual thinking, defensive attribution, and gender differences. The study included 363 young male and female participants, who read vignettes describing the behavior of the victim and the bystander in a rape scenario and answered questions regarding bystander-blaming. The results show that both counterfactual thinking and defensive attribution play a role in bystander-blaming. This article addresses the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Is It Dating Violence or Just "Drunken Behavior"? Judgments of Intimate Partner Violence When the Perpetrator Is Under the Influence of Alcohol

BACKGROUND

Previous research has shown a strong bias for laypersons to believe alcohol use and aggression to go hand-in-hand (see Quigley & Leonard, 2006 ). Furthermore, research has shown that alcohol use can be seen as a mitigating circumstance for aggression, resulting in a reduction of blame and accountability (Bullock, 2002 ; Katz & Arias, 2001 ; Tryggvesson, 2004 ).

OBJECTIVES

The present study investigated observers' judgments of intimate partner violence (IPV) when the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. We hypothesized that participants would view violent behavior as more common and less abusive if they thought the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol.

METHODS

College students (n = 79) viewed a video depicting an increasingly abusive interaction between college-age dating partners (see Witte & Kendra, 2010 ) and half of the participants were lead to believe that the perpetrator was drinking alcohol prior to the interaction. Participants rated the videotaped vignette at four timepoints to assess the degree to which they believed the interaction was normal/common and abusive.

RESULTS

Observers judged the abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol was involved, but only for psychologically abusive behaviors and moderately severe physically abusive behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE

The results of this study provide support for the notion that direct observers of IPV judge moderately abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol is involved. With this, theories concerning alcohol expectancies and interpretations of interpersonal violence can be more readily applied to real-life scenarios, such as in the validity of eye-witness testimony.

Perceptions of interpersonal versus intergroup violence: the case of sexual assault

The social identity approach makes a distinction between behavior motivated by intergroup versus interpersonal identities, which may be relevant to victim blaming in the case of rape. Using a mock jury paradigm, we examined the impact of defining rape as an act of interpersonal violence (personal assault) versus intergroup violence (a “hate crime”), crossed with a manipulation describing the attacker as either an acquaintance or stranger. Defining rape in intergroup terms led to less victim blame than when it was defined in interpersonal terms, and participants blamed the victim more when she was assaulted by an acquaintance than a stranger.

A mock juror investigation of blame attribution in the punishment of hate crime perpetrators

We examined blame attribution as a moderator of perceptions of hate crimes against gay, African American, and transgender victims. Participants were 510 Texas jury panel members. Results of vignette-based crime scenarios showed that victim blame displayed significant negative, and perpetrator blame significant positive, effects on sentencing recommendations. Also as hypothesized, victim and perpetrator blame moderated the effect of support for hate crime legislation. Interaction patterns suggested that both types of blame attribution influence sentencing recommendations, but only for participants disagreeing with hate crime legislation. Three-way interactions with victim type also emerged, indicating that the effects of both types of blame attribution show particular influences when the victim is gay, as opposed to transgender or African American. Implications for attribution theory, hate crime policy, and jury selection are discussed.

Perceptions of Similarity and Responsibility Attributions to an Acquaintance Sexual Assault Victim

Individuals view similar rape victims as less responsible for the rape than victims perceived as dissimilar. However, it is unclear if individuals hold victims they perceive as similar less responsible for the assault, or if individuals view themselves as more similar to victims they do not view as responsible for the assault. The current study, therefore, examined the temporal relationship between these constructs. A total of 167 college women listened to a date narrative that ended in sexual assault, consensual sex, or no sexual activity (these last two served as controls). Results supported that participants viewed themselves as less similar to the woman in the narrative when the date ended in sexual assault. Only similarity ratings made following learning that the woman was sexually assaulted predicted responsibility attributions suggesting that viewing a victim as responsible for the assault results in decreased perceptions of similarity toward her. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Factors that affect college students' perceptions of rape: what is the role of gender and other situational factors?

Prior research has shown that various situational factors and behaviors can affect one's perception of whether a rape has occurred. Moreover, some hold false beliefs about rape. This can also affect one's perception of ambiguous situations. This study included the administration of a survey to 584 college students; the survey examined the prevalence of rape myths and responses to vignettes of potential rape scenarios. It was found that although the majority of this sample did not support rape myths, male students were significantly more likely than female students to support rape myths. Furthermore, approximately 20% of students did support one subscale of the rape myth scale: He didn't mean to [commit rape]. The results also revealed an interaction effect between the observer's sex and the victim's sex, suggesting a complex gender relationship.

The effects of age, authority, and gender on perceptions of statutory rape offenders

Using a sample of 2,838 students from a Southwestern university in the United States, the authors examine the effect of respondent's gender, the adult's gender, the age gap between the adult and teen, and the adult's authority, on students' perceptions of vignettes describing adult-teen sexual relationships. Specifically, the authors investigate four dependent variables related to perceptions of the crime: the adult offender's emotional motivation, whether the adult is a sexual predator, whether the adult should have limited interactions with children, and whether the adult should be included on a sex offender registry. ANOVA analysis revealed that a large age gap between the adult and teen, the presence of authority in the relationship, and respondent's gender were significant predictors of perceptions of the offender as a predator and sex offender. The offender's gender significantly predicted respondents' perceived motivations but had no effect on opinions regarding sex offender registration. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for perceptions of statutory rape.

The Role of Gender Identity Threat in Perceptions of Date Rape and Sexual Coercion

We experimentally investigated the effects of gender identity threat on men’s and women’s perceptions of date rape and sexual coercion. Results showed that men whose masculinity was threatened responded by blaming the victim and exonerating the perpetrator more, while threatened women respond by blaming male perpetrators more and placing less blame on female victims. Men’s response to threats was more pronounced than women’s, an asymmetry we attribute to the cultural devaluation of femininity. Our findings highlight the significance of masculinity concerns in perceptions of sexual violence and, more generally, the importance of perceiver context in views of violence against women.