The Relationship between Men’s Early Maladaptive Schemas, Rape Myth Acceptance and Self-Reported Likelihood of Using Force and Raping

Abstract

Global efforts to understand sexual violence against women (SVW) persistently reinforce the magnitude and versatility of this multifaceted problem. Particularly, more thorough comprehension of the structures underlying SVW is warranted. The present study aims to examine the association between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs), rape myths acceptance (RMA) and self-reported proclivity to rape (RP). It was hypothesized that higher RMA is correlated with elevated RP, and that participants will report an increased tendency to use force rather than raping. Moreover, participants with elevated RP are more likely to endorse schemas from the disconnection/rejection domain, and that schema types are unlikely to vary among participants with the tendency to use force rather than raping. In total, 150 male students, who were either citizens or residents in Singapore, from an international university based in Singapore completed a series of self-reported measures assessing RMA, RP, EMSs and social desirability. The findings confirmed that higher RMA predicted increased RP, and participants reported the use of force rather than raping. Although, RMA did predict RP significantly, the predictive power of 4.3 percent was rather low. Elevated RP was predicted by the Unrelenting Standards/Hyper-criticalness, Punitiveness and Abandonment/Instability schemas. Furthermore, there were no differences in the schemas endorsed among participants with an increased tendency to rape. The present study has implications for clinical and forensic psychology and further research on SVW in Singapore, primarily due to the plausible influences of culture on the findings. Preliminary support is provided for more thorough research on the use of Schema Therapy in rehabilitating sexually aggressive behaviours.