Predicting Men's Perceptions of Date Rape Using the Heuristic-Systematic Model

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between belief in token resistance to sex and two characteristics of a dating situation, verbal refusal and situational cues suggesting sexual availability, in determining men's judgments of the occurrence of date rape. We hypothesized that men whose belief in token resistance is weak would be relatively more influenced by the strength of the verbal refusal and less influenced by situational cues, whereas the reverse would be true for men whose belief in token resistance is stronger. Nearly 200 male undergraduates read a date rape scenario varying in strength of verbal refusal and the number of cues of sexual availability. They then completed a perception of rape scale. Compared to men with a weaker belief, men whose belief in token resistance was stronger were less likely to judge that rape had occurred except when the verbal refusal was strong and there were few cues of availability. Men with a stronger belief in token resistance were relatively more sensitive to situati...