Abstract
Estimates suggest that around 20% of women may have experienced rape. Various misconceptions about rape (i.e., rape myths) are closely related to victim blaming. In our studies we tested the link between system justification, beliefs in biological origins of gender differences, ambivalent sexism and beliefs concerning sexual violence. Study 1 was conducted among 433 Polish students. The sequential mediation analysis suggests that system justification predicts the level of rape myth acceptance through beliefs in biological origins of gender differences and then hostile (but not benevolent) sexism. In Study 2, conducted among 197 Polish students, we tested the relationship between beliefs in biological origins of gender differences and beliefs concerning sexual violence using experimental design. Contrary to our expectations, students who read the text about social origins of gender differences perceived the survivor of a hypothetical acquaintance rape as less credible, and proposed a lower sentence for a stranger rape perpetrator, compared to participants who read about biological origins of gender differences. We suspect that this is due to experiencing reactance when confronted with social explanations of gender differences. We discuss implications for research and policy.
Highlights
According to Smith et al (2017) 36% of women have experienced at least one form of sexual violence involving physical contact, and even around 20% of women may have experienced rape
Results (z = − 6.192, p < .001) suggest that women (M = 21.83, SD = 6.73, Mdn = 21.00) have a lower level of rape myth acceptance than men (M = 27.37, SD = 8.88, Mdn = 26.50) which is consistent with the results of the previous studies
There were no significant correlations between rape myth acceptance and age (r = − .07, p = .13)
Summary
According to Smith et al (2017) 36% of women have experienced at least one form of sexual violence involving physical contact, and even around 20% of women may have experienced rape. Krahé et al (2008) demonstrated that law students and trainee lawyers are more inclined to victim blaming when the described victim drank alcohol and when she knew the perpetrator before the rape. This suggests that even this group is not completely free from the influence of “real rape” myths according to which a “real rape” is perpetrated by a stranger in a remote place. A study concerning rape cases in Norway (Bitsch & Klemetsen, 2017) seems to confirm this tendency: sentences of rape perpetrators who knew the victims were 18% lower than rape perpetrators who were unknown to the victims. Page (2010) conducted a study among 891 police officers and demonstrated that most of them (93%) believed that any woman can be raped, and yet 19% would not believe a married woman who said she was raped by her husband and 44% would not believe a prostitute who said that they were raped
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