Tolerance of Rape: A Sexist or Antisocial Attitude?

Abstract

A prison sample and a community control group were used to develop a scale of Rape Attitudes (tolerance of rape) and to validate a modified version of the Gough Socialization Scale. A university student sample and an adolescent sample completed the Rape Attitudes scale and a scale of attitudes toward heterosexual relationships. Males in the adolescent sample also completed the modified Cough Socialization Scale. For both university students and adolescents, and for both males and females, tolerance of rape was associated with sexist attitudes toward heterosexual relationships. For the male adolescents, tolerance of rape and sexist attitudes were associated with antisocial, delinquent personality tendencies. The relationship between tolerance of rape and sexist attitudes was stronger than the relationship between tolerance of rape and an antisocial personality.