The Relationship between Purity Culture and Rape Myth Acceptance

Abstract

The current study investigated the relationship between purity culture, rape myth acceptance, and intrinsic religiosity in the Christian population. Specifically, this study explored if purity culture endorsement would be associated with increased rape myth acceptance and increased likelihood of incorrectly labeling rape. It was also examined whether intrinsic religiosity would ameliorate the relationship between purity culture and rape myth acceptance. Ninety-nine Christian men and women participated in this study. Results demonstrated that endorsement of purity culture was related to increased endorsement of rape myths and increased likelihood of labeling marital rape and acquaintance rape as consensual sex. Intrinsic religiosity was also found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between purity culture and rape myth acceptance. Overall, these findings have important implications for how purity culture is taught and understood, and how these teachings relate to the Christian population’s involvement in the cultural dialogue surrounding sexual assault.