Attitudes toward rape and attribution of responsibility to rape victims in a Norwegian community sample

Abstract

There has been a steady increase in the number of rapes reported to the police in Norway during the past two decades. In this paper we examine factors associated with attitudes toward rape (as measured with 11 items from the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale) and attribution of responsibility to rape victims using a community sample of Norwegian women and men. Analyses of 475 returned questionnaires (32.6% response rate) suggest that men's attitudes toward rape were moderately less disapproving than women's, and that men attributed slightly more responsibility to rape victims than did women. Analysis showed that classical sexism was the strongest predictor of attitudes toward rape, followed by acceptance of intimate partner violence toward women and that rape attitudes were the prime predictor of attribution of responsibility to rape victims. Although Scandinavian countries are consistently ranked among the World's most gender egalitarian societies, the findings from our study do not differ from those from the North American culture with regard to the strengths of known group differences and attitudinal correlates to rape attitudes and attribution of responsibility. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.