Gender Versus Gender Role in Attributions of Blame for a Sexual Assault1

"Snapping, sharing and receiving blame": A systematic review on psychosocial factors of victim blaming in non-consensual pornography

Non-consensual pornography has become a growing concern, with potentially negative consequences for the victims. Victims of revenge porn are more likely to be blamed, and understanding why and how blame is attributed toward victims of non-consensual pornography is crucial to support them and reduce the negative consequences. This study aimed to explore and synthesize the existing evidence on victim blaming in non-consensual pornography and the underlying psychosocial factors within the context of attribution framework. A comprehensive systematic review was conducted across four databases namely PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and Scopus for English-language studies published from April 2012 to June 2022. Data from the selected studies were extracted and collated into the review matrix. Among the 22 full-text reviews, 10 records that met the eligibility criteria were included in the final review. Two themes namely "Culture and morality" and "gendered differences in attributions of blame" were derived from a thematic synthesis of 10 studies and reflected the psychosocial underpinnings of victim blaming. The review highlighted how cultural narratives and perceived immorality play a major role in how attributions are placed on self or others for victim blaming in "non-consensual pornography." Blame attributions emerging from gender stereotyping and gendered responsibilization within cultural and societal contexts were found to impact self-blame and compound victimization in non-consensual pornography. The study findings implicated that recognizing psychosocial underpinnings of victim blame attribution in revenge porn would allow for evolving suitable legislative and policy responses for designing effective educative and preventative strategies.

Reacting to Non-Prototypical Victims: Blame, Empathy, and Willingness to Label Sexual Assaults of Men and Sexual Minority Victims

Sexual assault is prevalent in the U.S. society, with an estimated 16% of women and 8% of men experiencing some form of sexual violence during their lifetime (Breiding, 2014). Sexual violence crosses all identity lines; however, legislation, cultural representation, and academic scholarship on sexual violence has historically been limited to assaults against women perpetrated by men. This dominant analysis of sexual assault focuses on the impact of sexism on sexual violence, neglecting the impact off other forms of oppression and attitudes related to sexuality and gender. This dominant representation leaves non-prototypical victims, such as men, people of other genders, and sexual minorities of all genders, less visible and less understood. This underrepresentation may lead to negative reactions toward these victims including blame, exoneration of the perpetrator, and reluctance to acknowledge assaults. In the current study, I explored the impact of both victim gender and sexual orientation on reactions to a hypothetical intimate partner sexual assault victim. Results indicated that perpetrators who assaulted a man were blamed less than those who assaulted a woman. Furthermore, study participants had more empathy for women who were assaulted than they did for men. There were no differences in participants' negative reactions to victims by sexual orientation. Results suggest that, while some advances have been made in public support for sexual assault victims, these advances may not extend yet to men as victims.

Empowerment or Threat: Perceptions of Childhood Sexual Abuse in the #MeToo Era

The rise of the #MeToo movement has shed light on the prominence of sexual violence, and its victims who often remain silent. Despite increasing awareness, victims or survivors of sexual violence who disclose may be faced with negative reactions such as disbelief or blame. Such reactions extend to child victims of sexual abuse. This study aimed to shed light on gender differences in responses to sexual violence against a backdrop of #MeToo. Through an online survey (N = 253) on Amazon's Mechanical Turk, we assessed participants' exposure to and perception of the #MeToo movement. In addition, we measured proximity to a victim or perpetrator of sexual violence. The effect of these variables on participants' response to a disclosure of childhood sexual abuse was examined. Results indicated that men are more likely to perceive the movement as threatening than women. Furthermore, a discrepancy in proximity to sexual violence emerged, with women more likely to know a victim and men more likely to know a perpetrator. In response to a disclosure of childhood sexual abuse, men were more likely to respond in a skeptical manner than women. Positive perceptions of the #MeToo movement translated into more supportive responses to a disclosure. Proximity to a victim of sexual violence did not impact how people responded to a disclosure, but proximity to a perpetrator was associated with a more negative response. Although the aim of this movement is to give a voice to victims of sexual violence, it may trigger a defensive response from men, which makes them more skeptical toward disclosures of victimization.

Blame Avoidance and Transgender Individuals' Attributions About Rape: Unpacking Gendered Assumptions in Defensive Attribution Research

This research examines how binary gender (male or female) interacts with trans status (cis or trans) to determine rape myth acceptance (RMA), perceived similarity, victim empathy, and victim blaming. Utilizing vignette methodology with an acquaintance rape scenario with a heterosexual female victim, we analyze these variables using multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) and ordered logit regression. We find support for the argument that both harm avoidance and blame avoidance are operating to predict similarity, empathy, and victim blaming experienced by cisgender and transgender individuals. We argue that this is based on in-group identification from both gender identity and perceived likelihood of future victimization. Specifically, we find that cisgender men have the lowest rates of perceived similarity. Transgender women have the highest rates of empathy whereas cisgender women and trans men have lower rates of victim blaming than cisgender men. Results suggest that the interaction between binary gender and trans status influence perceptions of rape myths and victimization.

Young People's Perceptions of Sexual Assault in Residential Care: "It Does Happen a Lot"

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (the Royal Commission) examined child sexual abuse within a wide range of institutions that provide services to children, this included residential facilities. The current study (funded by the Royal Commission) considers young people's perception of safety in residential care; specifically, the current study attended to the voices of young people who spoke about sexual harassment and assault in qualitative interviews. Interviews were conducted with young people aged between 13 and 21 years who were or had recently been in residential care. Participants were asked for their perceptions of situations in a series of vignettes describing various levels and types of sexual assault and harassment. During these interviews, the young people in this study voluntarily reported known incidences of sexual assault and harassment in varying levels, perpetrated by workers, individuals outside of residential care, and peers within residential care. Sexual assault and harassment was discussed in heteronormative and gendered ways with young men seen as perpetrators and protectors, and young women seen as being vulnerable. Further, it was evident from this study, that there were varying responses to these situations from workers within the residential care facilities.

Prevalence of Sexual Trauma History Using Behaviorally Specific Methods of Assessment in First Year College Students

There are several challenges associated with evaluating the prevalence of sexual trauma, including child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault. The aim of this study was to assess sexual trauma prevalence rates among first year college students (N = 954) using behaviorally specific questions and a more representative recruitment sample that did not rely on self-selection. Participants completed a list of sexual trauma questions, including general questions containing labels such as "rape" or "abuse" as well as behaviorally specific questions that describe specific behaviors that qualify as sexual trauma without labels. Results indicated that 6.7% of the sample reported at least one incident of child sexual abuse, with similar rates for men and women. Women were more likely to report a history of adult sexual assault, which was reported by 12.4% of the total sample. Participants were also more likely to endorse a history of sexual trauma when answering behaviorally specific rather than general "label" questions. Women survivors in particular were more likely than men to identify their experiences as abuse/assault (66.7% versus 21.1% for child sexual abuse), which may help explain prevalence differences between men and women in prior research. Men may be less likely than women to label their experiences as abuse and may be underidentified in sexual trauma research without the use of behaviorally specific questions. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the prevalence of sexual trauma is better assessed using behaviorally specific questions and that this is an important topic of study among both men and women.

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.

Intelligenz, Persönlichkeit, Einkommen und Fremdbeurteilungen der Leistung in sozialen Berufen

Soziale Berufe (sensu KldB 92, Vh 86; Statistisches Bundesamt, 1992 , S. 51) bilden ein wesentliches Segment des Arbeitsmarktes in Deutschland. Gleichwohl liegen bisher keine Befunde dazu vor, wie Intelligenz und Persönlichkeitsmerkmale mit Leistungsbeurteilungen und Einkommen in diesem Bereich zusammenhängen. Dies wurde in der vorliegenden Studie bei 142 erwerbstätigen Personen aus sozialen Berufen untersucht. Die Leistung wurde auf den Dimensionen aufgabenbezogene Leistung, Arbeitseinsatz und Sozialverhalten durch Vorgesetzte oder Kollegen beurteilt. Kontrolliert wurden Alter, Geschlecht und Bildung. Die Allgemeine Intelligenz stand in Beziehung zum Einkommen, nicht aber zur aufgabenbezogenen Leistung. Gewissenhaftigkeit stand in Beziehung zur aufgabenbezogenen Leistung und zum Arbeitseinsatz. Das Sozialverhalten sowie der Arbeitseinsatz standen in Beziehung zum Persönlichkeitsmerkmal Verträglichkeit. Diese Befunde liefern Hinweise darauf, dass Persönlichkeitstests bei der Personalauswahl auch in diesem Berufsbereich nutzbringend eingesetzt werden können. Für Intelligenztests konnte dies nicht nachgewiesen werden. Weitere theoretische und praktische Implikationen der Befunde sowie Stärken und Grenzen der Studie werden diskutiert.

College students' social reactions to the victim in a hypothetical sexual assault scenario: the role of victim and perpetrator alcohol use

College students' responses to a hypothetical sexual assault scenario involving alcohol use by the victim and/or perpetrator were examined (N = 295). Participants reported on victim/perpetrator responsibility, the extent to which the scenario would be considered rape, and their likelihood of providing positive or negative responses to the victim. Compared to women, men indicated that they would provide more negative and less positive social reactions to the victim, were less likely to identify the scenario as rape, and endorsed less perpetrator responsibility. When the victim was drinking, participants endorsed greater victim responsibility and lower perpetrator responsibility for the assault. Participants indicated that they would provide the victim with less emotional support when only the perpetrator was drinking, compared to when both the individuals were drinking.