Abstract
Sexual aggression is prevalent and damaging in our culture, and sources of support or blame following an attack of this kind can be important influences on the recovery process. This pair of studies investigate the nature of women’s blame reactions towards survivors of sexual aggression, as well as the potential for provision of sympathy and support. Specifically, we focused on the previously neglected role of female self-objectification. It was expected that increased self-objectification would lead to decreased sympathy and support, and more rape victim blame. However, results of Study 1 showed that chronic self-objectification was actually related to higher levels of sympathy and support for a rape victim. Study two built upon the limitations of study one, and examined similar questions. It was expected that women who engaged in greater self-objectification would again show greater sympathy and support for the victim, replicating study one’s results, and this was supported with a different scale. The overall relationship between self-objectification and sympathy and support was driven by body-relevant control beliefs. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Highlights
Sexual aggression, which includes all acts of unwanted sexual contact, up to and including rape, is a major problem for women and girls [1, 2]
Of additional interest is the moderating effect we found for Control Beliefs and Victim Blame by rape myth acceptance
A second limitation that should be addressed is the fact that, while past research that informed this work indicates that rape victims are likely to disclose to friends [14, 15], our studies focused on a non-specified relationship between the participants and the victim and a relationship with a victim described as an acquaintance
Summary
Sexual aggression, which includes all acts of unwanted sexual contact, up to and including rape, is a major problem for women and girls [1, 2]. Completed and attempted rape in this particular population was thoroughly measured via the National College Women Sexual Victimization Study (NCWSV) [3]. S. college campuses over a six-month period While this rate may seem small, at a University with an enrollment of 20,000 students, this translates to the potential for up to 250 women being assaulted during a single school year. Stated another way, over the seven-month period of a school year, this would mean more than one rape or attempted rape occurring per day, per campus. While students represent a population that is affected by sexual aggression, a discussion of these types of crimes is incomplete without consideration of the wider group of all women and girls
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