The Effects of Exposure to Filmed Sexual Violence on Attitudes Toward Rape

Abstract

This research investigated the effects of sexual violence presented in feature-length films. One hundred ninety-three university students (87 males and 106 females) were randomly assigned to view one of four films: (a) sexual aggression against a male (Deliverance); (b) sexual aggression against a female (Straw Dogs); (c) physical aggression (Die Hard 2); or (d) a neutral film containing no explicit scenes of physical or sexual aggression (Days of Thunder). After viewing the film, all subjects were asked to complete a 252-item questionnaire consisting of one of four randomly ordered presentations of the following measures: the Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence Scale, the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, the Attraction to Sexual Aggression Scale, the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Mehrabian-Epstein Empathy Scale, and a movie rating questionnaire. Participants then viewed a reenactment of a rape trial and completed a 23-item rape trial questionnaire. Results showed large and consistent differences between males and females; that is, males were more accepting of interpersonal violence and rape myths, more attracted to sexual aggression, less sympathetic toward the rape trial victim, and less likely to judge the defendant as guilty of rape. Of particular interest was the finding that males were equally affected by a film depicting sexual violence regardless of victim gender. On the other hand, females were not affected by film type.