Levels Of Rape Myth Acceptance Research Articles

The culture of sport: examining the effect of athletic participation on the acceptance of rape myths

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between athletic participation and the acceptance of rape myths in an effort to further identify cultural and social institutions that may contribute to adherence to and glorification of rape culture.Design/methodology/approachA random sample of 685 first semester, university freshmen were surveyed about their high school sports participation and levels of rape myth acceptance (RMA). Linear regression models were estimated to examine the relationships between participation in sports, the type of sport participation and the acceptance of rape myths.FindingsThose involved in athletics, generally, and those involved in team sports are more accepting of rape myths than are their counterparts. These results hold true for the full sample and for males and females, when examined separately. Participation in contact sports was not significantly predictive of RMA.Practical implicationsAthletics may provide a culture that is particularly prone to a belief in rape myths, which jeopardizes the integrity of collegiate sports. Policies should focus on changing offender behavior not victim behavior to create safer and more inclusive communities. Educating youth about the nature of rape myths and providing them with skills to resist such thinking is paramount. Focused programs and training could reduce the likelihood of accepting rape myths and, in turn, may make high school and college campuses safer.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to prior research by examining a sample of first semester university freshmen about their high school athletic participation and RMA. This research not only minimizes the effects of college level influences but also distinguishes between different forms of athletic involvement.

Psychopathy and proclivity to accept rape myths as predictors of negative attitudes towards victims of rape: the moderating role of narcissism

BackgroundRape myths may harm those who have been sexually assaulted, according to the past literature. This study looked at the associations between grandiose narcissism, psychopathic characteristics, and rape myth acceptance and attitudes towards rape victims in Pakistan. The issue of sexual violence against women and how specific personality characteristics, such as psychopathy, grandiose narcissism, and rape-supporting ideas, may lead to unfavourable views towards sexual assault victims are still being debated. In affluent nations, there has been substantial study on the psychological aspects that influence attitudes towards rape victims, but information on developing nations like Pakistan is lacking.MethodThe study used a cross-sectional methodology with a purposive sample of 430 individuals, ranging in age from 18 to 68. The appropriate sample size was determined using a G*Power analysis. In order to analyse the data, SPSS 21.0 was used. Stepwise regression, MANOVA, and moderated mediation analysis were all used.ResultsAll variables showed acceptable levels of Cronbach’s alpha reliability. Rape myth acceptance was significantly associated with attitudes towards rape, primary and secondary psychopathy, and grandiose narcissism. Rape myth acceptance, primary psychopathy, and grandiose narcissism significantly predicted attitudes towards rape victims. Moreover, grandiose narcissism showed a conditional indirect effect through primary psychopathy on the relationship between rape myth acceptance and attitudes towards rape victims, according to the results, which showed that rape myth acceptance, primary psychopathy, and those attitudes all had significant effects on attitudes towards rape victims.ConclusionsIn conclusion, it has been assessed that unfavourable views towards victims of sexual assault in Pakistan were substantially correlated with high levels of rape myth acceptance, primary psychopathy, and grandiose narcissism. Furthermore, the study discovered that these variables strongly impacted views towards rape victims. Additionally, rape myth acceptance, levels of primary psychopathy, and attitudes towards rape victims all showed significant gender differences. Moreover, grandiose narcissism had a significant conditional effect on the association between rape myth acceptance and attitudes towards rape victims via the mediation of primary psychopathy. Secondary psychopathy did not play a role in this predictive relationship.Clinical impact statementThe study’s findings highlighted the widespread prevalence of rape myths, the importance of primary psychopathy and grandiose narcissism, and their predictive value in highlighting peoples’ attitudes and beliefs regarding sexual assault victims. The study also emphasizes the influence that grandiose narcissism and psychopathic qualities have on the predicted relationship between rape myths and attitudes towards sexual assault victims. The findings have significant policy implications since rape victims in Pakistan frequently bear a great deal of responsibility and receive little legal assistance. This study can assist in guiding initiatives to solve these problems and enhance the assistance provided to rape victims.

Myths Concerning Sexual Violence Toward Women in Poland, Hungary, and Norway in the Context of System Justification Theory: The Role of Beliefs in the Biological Origins of Gender Differences and Ambivalent Sexism

The purpose of this study was to compare attitudes toward rape in Poland, Hungary, and Norway. Based on system justification theory, we examined whether country of origin predicts levels of rape myth acceptance, beliefs in the biological origins of gender differences, and ambivalent sexism. There is also some evidence that beliefs in the biological origins of gender differences predict rape myth among Polish students and that this relationship is mediated by hostile sexism. The current study aimed to test whether this model can be applied to other countries. Participants (N = 266) were from Poland, Hungary, and Norway. The study was conducted online. The dependent and independent variables were measured with questionnaires. Polish participants had significantly higher levels of rape myth acceptance, beliefs in the biological origins of gender differences, and ambivalent sexism than Norwegian and Hungarian participants. Our proposed model was confirmed: belief in the biological origins of gender differences was associated with rape myth acceptance, with hostile sexism as a mediator. Benevolent sexism also turned out to be a mediator between beliefs in the biological origins of gender differences and rape myth acceptance. The mediational model of the relationship between beliefs in the biological origins of gender differences and rape myth acceptance can be applied to all three countries. This result suggests that anti-rape educational interventions should take into account the role of culture and society in the construction of gender differences.

Correlates of Bystander Intervention Attitudes and Intentions Among Young Adult Active Duty Male Soldiers.

Sexual assault is a significant problem within the United States military. Bystander intervention skills training is recognized as a promising strategy for sexual assault prevention within both civilian and military populations. Sexual assault prevention programs which include training in bystander intervention teach individuals to notice situations that may pose a risk for harm and safely act to positively influence the outcome. This study examines correlates of bystander intervention attitudes and intentions among young adult active duty male soldiers (N = 282) between the ages of 18 and 24. Positive bystander intervention attitudes and intentions were associated with lower levels of rape myth acceptance, greater discomfort with sexism, lower likelihood of continuing an unwanted sexual advance after verbal resistance from a partner, greater likelihood of gaining verbal consent from a partner, and greater perceived peer approval for bystander intervention. In a multiple regression, perceived peer approval for bystander intervention and self-reported lower likelihood of continuing a sexual advance after verbal resistance from a partner emerged as significant predictors of positive bystander intervention attitudes and intentions (R2 = .41). Given that perceptions of peer norms are modifiable, these findings highlight the importance of addressing peer norms in bystander intervention training programs for military personnel.

The Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale-Subtle Version: Using an Adapted Measure to Understand the Declining Rates of Rape Myth Acceptance.

Research in recent years has shown decreased rates of rape myth acceptance. This decrease may be due to an actual decline in attitudes, but it may also be fully or in part because such attitudes have become socially undesirable to acknowledge. However, most of the current measures of rape myth acceptance are not sensitive to this issue. The purpose of the current study was to examine this issue by adapting the psychometrically sound items from the most established rape myth acceptance measure (the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, IRMA) and combining those with additional items that may seem less problematic to endorse. Results showed that the revised measure (IRMA-S) elicited higher levels of rape myth acceptance than the original when both were administered to all participants, regardless of the order of administration. This suggests that the decrease may in fact be due more to measurement issues than real declines in rape myth acceptance. However, this difference was very small practically, amounting to the difference between some agreement and some disagreement on a single item. Previous research has found that the measurement method employed in this study has been successful when utilizing other items, so it may be that the IRMA-S was not sensitive enough to detect real-world differences, or that having both measures included in a single administration, even with filler measures between them, affected responses to the IRMA-S. Despite not conclusively resolving that main question, this study moves this important area of research forward in several ways, including adding to the literature on rape myth acceptance results from a more diverse sample than previous ones and providing findings on the impact of different facets of social desirability, as well as pointing the way toward continued research on measurement of rape myth acceptance.

Blame and responsibility in the context of youth produced sexual imagery: The role of teacher empathy and rape myth acceptance

This study examined Pre-Service Teachers’ (PSTs; N = 92; 75% women, 25% men) tendency to blame students or to feel responsibility when confronted with different vignettes of the sharing of youth produced sexual images. Self-report measures of empathy and rape myth acceptance were collected. Findings showed that PSTs felt more responsible for girl targets depending on the vignette type. Moreover, they blamed the target more in the attention seeking vignette compared to other vignette types. Finally, PSTs who tended to blame the target showed lower levels of empathic concern and higher levels of rape myth acceptance. Implications for teaching education are discussed.

Impact of a Training Programme on Police Attitudes Towards Victims of Rape: a Randomised Controlled Trial

Research QuestionDoes an in-service training programme designed to address the attitudes of student officers, uniformed response officers and specialist rape crime investigators towards victims of rape change their perspective on adult victims, both male and female, who report rape offences?Data Police officers from four separate policing roles completed questionnaires designed to measure their attitudes towards victims of rape. The questions were already validated and used four specific subscales: ‘Asked for it’, ‘Didn’t mean to’, ‘It wasn’t really rape’ and ‘S/he lied’. Two questionnaires, one focused on male victims and one on females, were administered at different points in time.MethodsThis randomised controlled trial used a block design, randomly assigning eligible police officers to treatment and control conditions within each of four groups. Participants were grouped as rape detectives (N = 40), uniformed response officers in urban areas (N = 50); uniformed response officers in rural areas (N = 50) and student officers (N = 53). Officers in the treatment condition undertook a bespoke training programme, based on an online College of Policing e-learning programme, enhanced with audio and video content, discussion groups and short online webinar sessions delivered by a psychologist specialising in sexual offending. Both groups were surveyed before and after the treatment group was trained.FindingsThe training programme resulted in positive attitude changes towards male and female rape victims when responses are combined across all four police groups (but not within all groups separately) compared with the attitudes of those who did not undertake the training. Effects were found for both levels of rape myth acceptance and assessment of victim credibility. The effect was largest for the subscales ‘S/he lied’ and ‘it wasn’t really rape’. Training had more effect on attitudes towards female victims than towards males and more effect on uniformed response officers than on other categories of officers.ConclusionThe use of this mixed online webinar and in-person discussion group training delivery was effective in changing attitudes towards rape victims on issues relating to the treatment of people who report being raped.

Empathy Is Not Enough: The Inhibiting Effects of Rape Myth Acceptance on the Relation Between Empathy and Bystander Intervention.

Many bystander training programs aim to build empathy and decrease false and often prejudicial beliefs about rape and its occurrence (i.e., rape myth acceptance) to encourage prosocial bystander intervention. However, little empirical research has examined the association between these constructs. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of rape myth acceptance on the relation between both (a) the ability to experience and share the emotions of others (i.e., emotional empathy) and (b) the ability to understand the emotions of others (i.e., cognitive empathy), and bystander decision-making and intentions to intervention. In Study 1, 154 undergraduate men completed measures of empathy, rape myth acceptance, and bystander decision-making. Findings demonstrated that emotional empathy was associated with more perceived pros for intervention among men with low, but not high, levels of rape myth acceptance. In Study 2, 185 undergraduate men and 210 undergraduate women completed similar measures as in Study 1, with the addition of a measure on bystander intentions to intervene. Results detected a conditional indirect effect of emotional and cognitive empathy on bystander intentions to intervene via the perception that there are more pros than cons to intervention. Findings suggest that empathic individuals may weigh helping a potential victim (i.e., pro) over hurting their own self-image (i.e., con). However, this process is inhibited among men who endorse greater rape myths, likely because they are inhibited from intervening at various steps of the decision-making model. Collectively, these results highlight the importance of targeting both empathy and rape myth acceptance to encourage prosocial bystander intervention.

Toward a More Complete Understanding of Bystander Willingness to Help: What Role Does Critical Consciousness Play?

Sexual assault is a common phenomenon on university campuses with about one in five women victimized while in college. Consequently, bystander intervention programs have been gaining momentum. To improve such programs, research has begun to identify factors that may facilitate or impede individuals’ willingness to help a potential victim of sexual assault. The current study adds to this literature by: (a) examining potential differences in rape myth acceptance, critical consciousness, and willingness to help based on types of self-reported exposure to sexual assault; (b) exploring the previously unexamined mediating role of critical consciousness in the relationship between exposure to sexual assault and willingness to help; and (c) clarifying how the extent of rape myth acceptance impacts the relationship between exposure to sexual assault and willingness to help. Using a sample of 511 U.S. undergraduate students, results generally demonstrated that those with multiple types of exposure to sexual assault victimization demonstrated the highest levels of critical consciousness and greater willingness to help. Additionally, there was both a significant indirect effect of exposure to sexual assault on willingness to help via critical consciousness and a conditional effect of exposure to sexual assault on willingness to help that was stronger at lower levels of rape myth acceptance. Results highlight the importance of programming targeted at increasing critical consciousness.

Reassessing balance: News coverage of Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood scandal before and during #metoo

Sexual abuse became an important part of news coverage in the months leading up to Donald Trump’s presidency and continued to dominate news cycles with the emergence of the #metoo movement. Yet, it remains to be seen whether the increasing amount of stories about sexual abuse have actually advanced social justice. We conducted content and textual analyses of newspaper, cable television, and online coverage of the Access Hollywood scandal before and during the #metoo movement ( N = 1890) to understand how the journalistic objectivity norm of balance via issue dualism influenced reporting on sexual abuse. Television and right-leaning media had the highest levels of rape myth acceptance in their coverage for both time periods. The use of issue dualism advantaged Trump as Bill Clinton and other prominent accused men shifted focus away from Trump and largely overlooked the women coming forward against Trump. The objectivity norm of balance reduced and politicized this complex issue, as well as gave power to Trump’s retaliation while minimizing the serious accusations that have been brought against him.

Accusers Lie and Other Myths: Rape Myth Acceptance Predicts Judgments Made About Accusers and Accused Perpetrators in a Rape Case

Previous research results have yielded a consistent link between rape myth acceptance and sexual assault victim blaming: Individuals reporting higher levels of rape myth acceptance also report higher levels of victim blaming. In four studies we explored whether the presentation of rape-myth confirming information or rape-myth debunking information might moderate these tendencies. In these studies, U.S. undergraduates (97 in Study 1, 84 in Study 2, 98 in Study 3, and 116 in Study 4) read scenarios of a heterosexual sexual assault case and were randomly assigned to a control condition, a rape myth confirmation condition, or a rape myth debunking condition; they also reported the extent to which they endorsed or accepted rape myths. Rape myth acceptance robustly correlated with judgments made about accusers and accused rapists regardless whether the accuser/accused pairing was female/male (Studies 1 and 2) or male/female (Studies 3 and 4). For example, those who most strongly endorsed rape myths were also likely to disbelieve accusers. There were few instances indicating that the presentation of rape myth confirming information or rape myth debunking information moderated these effects. This lack of moderation occurred regardless of whether the information came from trial lawyers or from expert witnesses in the case. The relative impotence of the information presentations could be due to several factors (e.g., entrenched nature of rape myth acceptance, psychological reactance, timing and strength of manipulation), and we suggest ideas for how to overcome this relative impotence in future research.

Preventing Sexual Violence Through Bystander Intervention: Attitudes, Behaviors, Missed Opportunities, and Barriers to Intervention Among Australian University Students.

The concept of bystander intervention is gaining popularity in universities as a mechanism to prevent sexual violence. Prior research has focused on correlates of bystanders' intentions to intervene and intervention behaviors in situations where there is a risk of sexual violence. The current study builds on this literature by exploring the nature of missed opportunities, including perceived barriers to intervention. In all, 380 Australian undergraduate university students completed an online survey. Measures included a rape myth acceptance scale, bystander intentions to intervene, actual intervention behaviors, missed opportunities for intervention, and perceived barriers for missed opportunities. Promisingly, students reported high levels of intentions to intervene in situations where there was a risk of sexual violence and reported relatively few missed opportunities to do so when these situations did occur. Intervention behaviors varied by important demographic characteristics such as gender, age, attitudes toward sexual violence, and the nature of the situation. Younger female students, with lower levels of rape myth acceptance, who had previously engaged in bystander intervention behaviors were more likely to report intentions to intervene in future risky situations, and female international students reported fewer missed opportunities for intervention. The most common barrier to intervention for identified missed opportunities was a failure to recognize situations as having a potential risk for sexual violence, and students were most likely to intervene in situations when the opportunity to help a friend in distress arose. This study provides some preliminary empirical evidence about bystander intervention against sexual violence among Australian university students, and identifies unique contexts for intervention and what current barriers to intervention may be.

Rape Myths and Hookup Culture: An Exploratory Study of U.S. College Students' Perceptions

The present study provides the first known systematic examination of the association of hookup culture endorsement and rape myth acceptance. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to test the primary hypothesis that hookup culture endorsement would be the primary predictor of rape myth acceptance levels among a sample of 422 U.S. college students. Findings indicated the existence of a complex relationship in which rape myth acceptance increases or decreases based upon the form of hookup culture endorsement examined. Beliefs that hookups are harmless and elevate social status increased rape myth acceptance, whereas beliefs that hookups express sexual freedom decreased rape myth acceptance. Furthermore, results supported the hypothesis that hookup culture endorsement was the largest predictor of rape myth acceptance. Consistent with previous studies, the predictive power of gender and religiosity in determining levels of rape myth acceptance were shown to be significant. When controlling for levels of hookup culture endorsement, the explanatory power of these variables decreased, and hookup culture endorsement had the largest effect upon rape myth acceptance levels.

Influence of Victim and Perpetrators’ Alcohol Use on Social Work Student’s Levels of Rape Myth Acceptance

Rape myths are stereotyped, false cultural values that serve to justify sexual assault against women. This study examined the perceptions of alcohol use on levels of rape myth acceptance among social work students. One hundred and ninety-five bachelor's and master's students were randomly assigned to read a vignette developed by researchers depicting a date rape with the victim, perpetrator, both, or neither consuming alcohol. Results of a descriptive analysis showed that students are willing to accept certain rape-supportive beliefs, but not others. Participant responses to rape myths differed based on the particular vignette the respondent was assigned to read. Further research is needed to examine the particular myths social work students endorse and the situational factors that influence those endorsements. Social work students must be educated about how endorsements of rape myths can affect their interaction with survivors and perpetrators.

The Prevalence of Rape Myths among Middle School Students across Gender and Socioeconomic Background

A study designed to investigate the level and type of rape myths that are endorsed among middle school youth in terms of gender and socioeconomic background is reported in this paper. Participants were 582 seventh and eighth grade students who took part in Project Equality, a rape and sexual assault prevention curriculum that took place during eight, one and a half-hour sessions. The modified Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale was administered to students before and after Project Equality. Results indicate that males endorse higher levels of rape myth acceptance, both before and after the intervention, although the number of endorsed myths decreased. Rape myth endorsement decreased following the intervention among participants of differing socioeconomic backgrounds. Males and females showed lower levels of rape myth acceptance following the intervention. Implications include finding more effective ways to target male youth and that Project Equality works to lower rape myths among middle school youth.

Religious Affiliation, Religiosity, Gender, and Rape Myth Acceptance: Feminist Theory and Rape Culture.

Rape myths are false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists, often prejudicial and stereotypical. Guided by feminist theory and available empirical research, this study aimed to examine the influences of gender, religious affiliation, and religiosity on rape myth acceptance of U.S. emerging adults. A sample of 653 university students aged 18 to 30 years were recruited from a large public university in the southern United States to complete the research questionnaires. Results indicated that individuals who identified as Roman Catholic or Protestant endorsed higher levels of rape myth acceptance than their atheist or agnostic counterparts. Men were found more likely to ascribe to rape myths than their female counterparts. Religiosity was positively associated with rape myth acceptance, even after controlling the effect of conservative political ideology. No significant interaction was found between gender and religious affiliation or gender and religiosity. Limitations, future research directions, and implications of the findings are discussed from the perspective of feminist theory.

Rape Myth Acceptance among Social Work Students

ABSTRACTIt is important to examine rape myth acceptance and the pertinent situational factors that affect attitudes and beliefs concerning the act of rape, perpetrators, and survivors. This study examines the influence of alcohol consumption and perceptions of alcohol use on levels of rape myth acceptance among social work students. Results showed differences in levels of rape myth acceptance based on race or ethnicity and gender. Results also showed that the version of the vignette read by the participant was a significant predictor of rape myth acceptance. Respondents’ perceptions of alcohol consumption were also a strong predictor of rape myth acceptance levels. These results demonstrate there are multiple factors that influence social work students’ rape myth acceptance levels that need further examination.

Rape Myth Acceptance: A Comparison of Military Service Academy and Civilian Fraternity and Sorority Students

Although both the military and fraternities have been theorized to be characterized by norms and attitudes that serve to legitimize violence against women, no previous work has examined the potential similarity and differences in rape-supportive beliefs of these 2 environments or the people drawn to them. Further, the belief systems of women within these organizations have received little attention. As such, the current study sought to serve as an initial exploration of the rape-supportive belief systems of people drawn to these groups. Participants were recruited from students entering 2 military service academies (U.S. Military Academy, n = 1,169, 1,003 men, 166 women; U.S. Naval Academy, n = 1,916, 1,551 men, 365 women) and fraternities and sororities at a Midwestern university (n = 393, 188 men, 205 women). All participants completed the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale–Short Form. Consistent with previous findings related to gender, men were more accepting of rape myths than women. Further, there was more variability in the levels of rape myth acceptance among military service academy and fraternity men than among military service academy and sorority women. Although across all groups the women expressed significantly lower levels of rape myth acceptance than the men, women and men from the United States Military Academy were more closely aligned in their beliefs than women and men from the other samples. Implications for sexual assault prevention education are discussed.

Sexual dating aggression across grades 8 through 12: timing and predictors of onset.

Investigators have identified a number of factors that increase risk for physical and psychological dating abuse perpetration during adolescence, but as yet little is known about the etiology of sexual dating aggression during this critical developmental period. This is an important gap in the literature given that research suggests that patterns of sexual dating violence that are established during this period may carry over into young adulthood. Using a sample of 459 male adolescents (76 % White, 19 % Black), the current study used survival analysis to examine the timing and predictors of sexual dating aggression perpetration onset across grades 8 through 12. Risk for sexual dating aggression onset increased across early adolescence, peaked in the 10th grade, and desisted thereafter. As predicted based on the Confluence Model of sexual aggression, associations between early physical aggression towards peers and dates and sexual aggression onset were stronger for teens reporting higher levels of rape myth acceptance. Contrary to predictions, inter-parental violence, prior victimization experiences, and parental monitoring knowledge did not predict sexual dating aggression onset. Findings support the notion that risk factors may work synergistically to predict sexual dating aggression and highlight the importance of rape myth acceptance as a construct that should be addressed by violence prevention programs.

Rape Victims' Attitudes to Rape Myth Acceptance

The present study examined victims' attitudes to rape and rape-reporting behaviour. There were 36 Rape Victims, and approximately half reported their rape to the police (Rape Victim – Report) and half did not report their rape to the police (Rape Victim – Not Report). There were 42 Crime Victims, and approximately half reported the crime to the police (Crime Victim – Report) and half did not (Crime Victim – Not Report). Participants filled out a questionnaire which consisted of six scales: Rape Myth Acceptance, Just World Beliefs, Attitudes towards the Police, Locus of Control, the Pro-Victim scale and the Anti-Rapist scale. The results showed that Rape Victims-Not Report had significantly higher levels of Rape Myth Acceptance and Internal Locus of Control than Rape Victims-Report. However, all rape victims reported similar levels of Just World Beliefs and Attitudes towards the Police. Rape Myth Acceptance was significantly related to Just World Beliefs for crime victims but not for rape victims. Finally, crime victims had higher levels of Internal Locus of Control than rape victims.