Abstract
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.
Highlights
A Canadian judge recently made headlines when he showed sympathy to an alleged rapist, pointing out that the victim was wearing revealing clothing and that the rapist could have been ‘‘just a clumsy Don Juan’’ [1]
Considerable social psychological research has investigated the question of why individuals are motivated to engage in victim blaming, with a particular focus on the blame faced by female rape victims
Implications for Theory and Future Research. This is the first study to show that framing an act of violence as interpersonal versus intergroup behaviour can influence victim blaming
Summary
A Canadian judge recently made headlines when he showed sympathy to an alleged rapist, pointing out that the victim was wearing revealing clothing and that the rapist could have been ‘‘just a clumsy Don Juan’’ [1]. The implication of the term ‘‘hate crime’’ is that the victim could not have done much to prevent it, given she was selected on the basis of her gender This view is consistent with our hypotheses based on the social identity approach that representing rape as intergroup violence may reduce the focus on individual identities, making these less relevant for assigning blame. Both the social identity approach and a feminist perspective suggest that the distinction between interpersonal and intergroup violence may have important implications for victim blame. While our predictions for perpetrator blame were tentative, we expected that defining rape as intergroup could lead to lower levels of perpetrator blame compared to defining it as interpersonal
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
