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The Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) scale: Development and validation in German and English
Abstract
Scales of rape myth acceptance (RMA) often yield low means and skewed distributions. This is proposed to be because of a change in rape-related beliefs toward more subtle content. Incorporating insights from racism and sexism research, a 30-item self-report scale measuring the acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA) is presented. Across four studies (total N=1,279), the reliability and validity of parallel German and English versions of the AMMSA scale were examined. The results show that both language versions are highly reliable; compared with a traditional RMA scale, means of AMMSA scores are higher and their distributions more closely approximate normality. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses provide evidence for the AMMSA scale's concurrent and predictive construct validity.
... The study of attitudes concerning sexual violence has expanded over the last four decades thanks to the development of an extensive catalog of rape myth acceptance scales (RMAS) (Gerger et al. 2007). At this point, while a myth is a set of schemes or ideas internalized by a significant population percentage as a discourse of authority (Barjola 2018), rape myths more concretely refer to false, stereotypical beliefs about victims, assailants, and sexual assault conditioning social judgment on sexual violence experiences (Saldívar Hernández et al. 2015;Sinko et al. 2020). ...
... Grounded on these first steps, numerous authors have replicated and adapted Burt's work to different contexts and studied diverse attitudinal components concerning sexual assault (Briere et al. 1985;Costin 1985;Expósito et al. 2014;Janos and Espinosa 2018;Malamuth 1981;Megías et al. 2011;Payne et al. 1999;Quackenbush 1989). The Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance (IRMA), a twoversion scale developed by Payne et al. (1999), stands out for its extensive use, along with the Acceptance of Modern Myths About Sexual Aggression (AMMSA), created by Gerger et al. (2007). Likewise, the Illinois Sexual Harassment Myth Acceptance (ISHMA), developed by Lonsway et al. (2008), focuses on sexual harassment, including statements about nightlife-related situations. ...
... To design an instrument able to measure attitudes, the team of experts drew on the understanding of attitude from social psychology, as well as the extensive catalogue of the rape myth acceptance scales (Burt 1980;Expósito et al. 2014;Feild 1978;Gerger et al. 2007;Hantzi et al. 2015;Megías et al. 2011;Payne et al. 1999). Thus, following the definition of attitude (Baron and Byrne, 2005), the initial structure of the scale consists of three major dimensions, which include items intended to measure: (1) the cognitive component of attitudes (denoted here as "beliefs, thoughts"), (2) the behavioral component ("behaviors, habits") and (3) the emotional component ("emotions and feelings"). ...
Aim
To construct and validate a scale to measure the degree of acceptance of the population towards drug-facilitated sexual assault.
Subject and methods
The drug-facilitated sexual assault acceptance scale was validated in a sample of secondary school students (n = 485). For this purpose, the sample was divided into two subsamples (n1 = 240; n2 = 245), and exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were applied to each of them. In addition, the reliability of the developed scale was analyzed using Cronbach's α.
Results
In the exploratory factor analysis, a scale of 15 items was obtained, divided into three factors: (a) Sexual Duty, (b) Drunken Effervescence, and (c) Sexual Success. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the results. In measuring the reliability of the scale, a Cronbach's α of 0.877 was obtained for the whole sample.
Conclusion
These results confirm the adequacy of the scale and its component items, reflecting its suitability for measuring the acceptability of drug-facilitated sexual assaults. Thus, the drug-facilitated sexual assault acceptance scale provides a valid and reliable instrument specifically designed to measure the acceptability of drug-facilitated sexual violence.
... Keywords: rape myths, meta-analyses, reliability generalization, scale, measurement Introducción El estudio de la violencia sexual ha tomado relevancia en las últimas décadas y ha generado propuestas teóricas que buscan comprender este fenómeno (Romero-Sánchez, 2012). Uno de los constructos que intenta explicar cómo se legítima y valida la violencia sexual son los mitos de violación (Burt, 1980), que se definen como actitudes y creencias generalmente falsas, amplias y persistentes, acerca de la violación, la víctima y el agresor, que son utilizadas para negar o justificar la agresión https: //doi.org/10.16888/interd.2023.40.2.4 sexual (Gerger et al., 2007). ...
... Estas creencias pueden ser agrupadas en diversos tipos de mitos: mitos que responsabilizan a la víctima con el argumento que las mujeres deben ser cuidadosas y no exponerse para evitar la agresión sexual; mitos que justifican y disminuyen la responsabilidad del agresor al plantear que el hombre no pudo contener su deseo sexual o que no se dio cuenta de que estaba forzando a la mujer, y aquellos mitos que niegan o normalizan las agresiones sexuales, y que proponen que la violación solo ocurre en contextos muy específicos o que son parte de una forma de relación de las parejas (Burt, 1980;Gerger et al., 2007;Payne et al., 1999). ...
... Para valorar este constructo, se han utilizado diversos instrumentos. Sin embargo, los que han sido ampliamente estudiados en la última década, principalmente en Estados Unidos y países de Europa (Murray y Calderón, 2021), son la escala de aceptación de mitos de violación de Illinois IRMAS (McMahon y Farmer, 2011;Payne et al., 1999) y la escala de aceptación de mitos modernos de agresión sexual AMMSA (Gerger et al., 2007). Ambas escalas miden la aceptación de los mitos de violación que se aproxima al fenómeno desde una expresión clásica (IRMAS) o moderna (AMMSA), que se evidencian en el lenguaje con el que se refieren a la violencia sexual en contra de las mujeres (Gerger et al., 2007;McMahon y Farmer (2011). ...
Los mitos de violación son actitudes y creencias generalmente falsas, amplias y
persistentes, acerca de la violación, la víctima y el agresor, que son utilizadas para negar o justificar la agresión sexual hacia las mujeres. En las últimas dos décadas, los instrumentos más utilizados para medir este constructo corresponden a la escala de aceptación de mitos de violación de Illinois (IRMAS), que utiliza expresiones directas y explícitas mediante un lenguaje clásico, y la escala de aceptación de mitos modernos de agresión sexual (AMMSA) que usa un lenguaje sutil, indirecto y moderno. Se realizó un metaanálisis de generalización de la fiabilidad de 69 estudios empíricos
que utilizaron alguna de las dos escalas de mitos de violación. El objetivo fue estimar la fiabilidad media de las puntuaciones combinadas de las escalas IRMAS y AMMSA para obtener un valor aproximado de su fiabilidad general y evaluar el posible efecto moderador de algunas variables de interés. El promedio de la fiabilidad por consistencia interna de las puntuaciones de las
escalas para las 98 muestras estudiadas fue de .85, IC95 % [.84, .86]. Se observó una alta heterogeneidad (I2 = 96 %), y el número de ítems es la única variable moderadora que explica significativamente la variabilidad de la fiabilidad observada. Estos resultados muestran que ambas escalas presentan índices de consistencia interna aceptables en sus diversas aplicaciones. Por lo tanto, las medidas de aceptación de mitos de violación cumplen con los criterios de fiabilidad adecuados para ser utilizadas en investigaciones empíricas en distintos contextos.
... Se han desarrollado diferentes escalas para medir la presencia de mitos de violación en la percepción social, las más empleadas en estudios empíricos (Suarez & Gadalla, 2010) son la escala de aceptación de mitos de la violación (Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, RMAS) (Burt, 1980); la escala de aceptación de mitos de la violación de Illinois (Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, IRMAS) (Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999); y la escala de aceptación de los mitos modernos sobre agresiones sexuales (Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression scale, AMMSA) (Gerger et al. 2007), que se han adaptado a diferentes países, como España (Megías et al., 2011). Las principales críticas a estas escalas son que sólo aluden a la violencia sexual sufrida por mujeres y que básicamente miden la hostilidad general hacia las mujeres (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994Suarez & Gadalla, 2010). ...
... Mito de la iniciativa femenina A través de este mito se asume que las mujeres sexualmente y socialmente autónomas corren un alto riesgo de ser violadas (Despentes, 2007). En la biliografía especializada (Buddie & Miller, 2002;Koss et al.,1994) se señala que gran parte de los mitos de la violación recogidos en las escalas más empleadas (Burt, 1980;Gerger et al., 2007;Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999) aluden a que la víctima desea la agresión y que es ella ha que ha provocado la violación. O bien, hacen referencia a que se lo merecía porque las violaciones solo le pasan a determinado tipo de mujeres, en concreto, las que llevan una vida sexual promiscua. ...
... obtener algún tipo de beneficio (Pernas et al., 2000). En las escalas más populares para medir la aceptación de los mitos sobre la violación (Burt, 1980;Gerger et al., 2007;Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999) se identifica como un mito la creencia de que las mujeres acusan a hombres por violación para conseguir algo a cambio: porque están enfadadas y quieren vengarse de que las hayan dejado; para evitar que les descubran una infidelidad; porque se arrepienten de tener sexo; para conseguir algún beneficio legal, como la custodia de hijos en común o una indemnización; o simplemente para llamar la atención. ...
This paper aims to review the scientific literature about rape myths and their impact in the Spanish judicial system. From a socio-legal perspective, this paper reviews theoretical and empirical research on rape myth. There are few empirical researches that explore the issue in the Spanish context, but these publications show that stereotypes about sexual violence influence the courts in the assessment of the evidence. However, the bibliography reviewed mainly explores myths about the victims and there is little research concerning stereotypes about rapists.
El objetivo de este artículo es revisar los principales mitos de la violación y cómo afectan en el sistema judicial español. Desde una perspectiva socio legal se realiza una revisión bibliográfica de investigaciones teóricas y empíricas sobre los mitos de la violación. Las investigaciones actuales en España sobre mitos de la violación y sistema judicial son un corpus pequeño de estudios que abordan de forman exploratoria la cuestión, pero ponen de manifiesto que los estereotipos sobre la violencia sexual influyen en los tribunales a la hora de valorar la prueba y dictar sentencia, aunque la bibliografía analizada explora principalmente mitos sobre las víctimas y apenas se incide en los estereotipos sobre los violadores
... that serve to deny, downplay, or justify sexually aggressive behavior that men commit against women' (Gerger et al., 2007, p. 425). To assess the acceptance of such myths, Gerger et al. (2007) developed the Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) scale. Various studies support the notion that higher AMMSA scores predict more victim-blaming and a higher proclivity to commit sexual aggression (Bohner et al., 2009). ...
... Studies showed that higher HS scores predict a tendency towards (and acceptance of) sexual harassment (Russell & Trigg, 2004;Siebler et al., 2008). Also, Gerger et al. (2007) found positive correlations of HS and AMMSA across three studies. ...
... Looking at intercorrelations among the attitudinal variables, we note that STMO was correlated positively with AMMSA and with a preference for sexist music genres. AMMSA was also correlated highly with HS and less highly, but significantly, with BS, which replicates previous results (e.g., Gerger et al., 2007). Furthermore, AMMSA was positively correlated with a preference for sexist music genres. ...
The music genres reggaeton and dembow have attained worldwide popularity. Their song lyrics and music videos often display sexually explicit contents, conveying the sexual objectification and degradation of women. To test possible effects of this content on sexually harassing behaviour, Dominican males were randomly assigned to watch reggaeton music videos (n = 34), dembow music videos (n = 31) or no videos (n = 32). Afterwards, two forms of sexually harassing behaviour towards a (computer-simulated) woman, gender harassment and unwanted sexual attention, were assessed using a computer chat paradigm. Participants’ short-term mating orientation, hostile and benevolent sexist attitudes, acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA), music preferences and previous exposure to sexist music were also assessed. Results did not show any effects of the music video manipulation on harassing behaviour but revealed correlational links among music preferences, short-term mating orientation, AMMSA, sexist attitudes and displays of unwanted sexual attention. Results are discussed in relation to previous research on the effects of music and attitudinal predictors of sexual harassment conducted in Europe and the USA.
... To measure athletes' perceptions of sexual assault/rape myth acceptance, the Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression scale (AMMSA; Gerger et al., 2007) was utilized. The AMMSA was created in response to problems associated with classic rape myth acceptance scales (e.g., the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale) and research conducted using college students. ...
... Higher scores indicate a greater acceptance or endorsement of the rape myth. A Cronbach's alpha of .76 for the English version was found (Gerger et al., 2007). Adequate reliability and validity have been established in studies by the scale's authors (Gerger et al., 2007). ...
... A Cronbach's alpha of .76 for the English version was found (Gerger et al., 2007). Adequate reliability and validity have been established in studies by the scale's authors (Gerger et al., 2007). To measure athletes' perceptions of gender roles the shortened version of the Attitudes Toward Women scale (ATW; Spence et al., 1973) was used. ...
In fall 2018, 81 intercollegiate athletes participated in Fair Play: Sexual Violence Prevention for Athletes. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of the Fair Play curriculum and facilitation, specifically learning if athletes’ attitudes toward women and/or rape myth acceptance changed as a result of their participation in Fair Play. Athletes completed pre- and post-test surveys to measure perceptions of sexual assault/rape myth acceptance (Gerger, Kley, Bohner, & Siebler, 2007) and gender roles (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973). In addition, 20 athletes participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews to further explain their knowledge of sexual violence after completing Fair Play. Survey results showed significant differences for pre- and post-test scores on rape myth acceptance, but not for attitudes toward women. Interview results showed that Fair Play participants could articulate a raised awareness of sexual violence, appropriately define sexual violence and consent, and a rejection of rape myths. Implications include further understanding of effective rape prevention education.
... Its internal consistency is typically indicated by alpha coefficients of .90 or higher, and its test-retest reliability over several weeks is typically greater than .80 (Gerger et al., 2007;Megías et al., 2011;Milesi et al., 2020). Convergent validity was established by showing high correlations (r = .79 ...
... Convergent validity was established by showing high correlations (r = .79 to .88) with the IRMA scale (Payne et al., 1999), an instrument assessing more traditional rape myths (Gerger et al., 2007; Studies 1 to 4). At the same time, factor analysis showed that the items of the two scales largely loaded on separate factors, in line with the idea that IRMA and AMMSA represent sets of old-fashioned and modern beliefs, respectively (Eyssel & Bohner, 2008; for further evidence, see also Hantzi et al., 2015;Megías et al., 2011). ...
... In various studies, the nomological network of AMMSA has been studied. Correlational analyses (Gerger et al., 2007;Hantzi et al., 2015;Khokhlova & Bohner, 2020;Megías et al., 2011) showed that AMMSA was strongly linked to constructs with related content, such as sex-role stereotyping and acceptance of interpersonal violence (Burt, 1980), the likelihood to sexually harass (Pryor, 1987;Vanselow et al., 2010), hostile sexism (HS; Glick & Fiske, 1996), and, to a lesser extent, benevolent sexism (BS; Glick & Fiske, 1996). Although BS represents more subjectively positive attitudes towards women than does AMMSA, people high in BS blame a female victim if they perceive her behaviour as violating traditional gender roles (Abrams et al., 2003). ...
Modern myths about sexual aggression are contemporary beliefs that deny or justify male sexual aggression against women and downplay its consequences. They contribute to gender inequality and a rape-supportive culture. Modern myths about sexual aggression serve various functions: at the individual level, they serve as a cognitive schema for interpreting information about sexual aggression in a biased fashion (i.e., the cognitive function); for women, they also serve as a means to cope with the threat of sexual assault (i.e., the affective function); and for men, as a means to rationalise their own sexually aggressive tendencies (i.e., the behavioural function). In this chapter, we discuss research on the Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) scale. Specifically, we review research on AMMSA conducted over the last 15 years, addressing the nomological network of AMMSA and highlighting how AMMSA fulfils its cognitive, affective, and behavioural functions. Our review focuses on research including novel aspects, such as studying AMMSA in relation to the diversity of victims or adopting laboratory methods (e.g., eye-tracking; implicit attitude measurement) to study AMMSA and its associated cognitive processes in greater detail. We conclude with the presentation of a revised and shortened scale, the AMMSA-21, whose items reflect recent changes in public discourse about sexual aggression.
... Los mitos de violación se han identificado en diversas culturas, reflejando la transversalidad de los sesgos y creencias erróneos con respecto a la violación (Gerger et al., 2007;Payne et al., 1999). La evidencia de los últimos 10 años muestra que estas creencias influyen en los procesos de atribución frente a hechos de violencia sexual (Schlegel & Courtois, 2019). ...
... La víctima construida como alteridad cumple la misión de proteger a las mujeres de su propia vulnerabilidad, pues las víctimas de violación pertenecen a un tipo de mujer que se aleja del grupo femenino heteronormado (Payne et al., 1999). Construir a los agresores como otros en condición de enfermos permite que hombres y mujeres tomen distancia de estos, fortaleciendo la idea de que las violaciones son eventos aislados que se producen en situaciones puntuales, producto de rasgos individuales del agresor (Gerger et al., 2007). Por otro lado, en el caso de los hombres, percibir a los agresores como parte del propio grupo permite construir a la mujer como la otra que ataca y desprestigia a un miembro de su tribu, negando y minimizando la violencia sexual y protegiendo la fraternidad masculina (Romero Sánchez, 2012). ...
... Payne et al. (1999) identificaron siete grupos de mitos de violación: (a) ella lo pidió, (b) no es realmente una violación, (c) él no quería, (d) ella lo quería, (e) ella mintió, (f) la violación es un evento trivial y (g) la violación es un evento desviado. Todos estos grupos hacen referencia a mitos que culpabilizan a la víctima, planteando que las mujeres deben ser cuidadosas para prevenir la violación; mitos que niegan, normalizan y trivializan las agresiones sexuales, los que proponen que la violación solo ocurre en contextos muy específicos o que son parte de una forma de relación de las parejas y aquellos mitos que minimizan y justifican el actuar del agresor, argumentando que los hombres no pueden contener su deseo sexual o que les es difícil darse cuenta que están forzando a la mujer (Burt, 1980;Gerger et al., 2007;Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994;Payne et al., 1999). ...
Las redes sociales forman parte fundamental de la comunicación actual, permitiendo la participación de las personas en la construcción de las noticias mediante la expresión de sus opiniones. Este estudio explora la presencia de los mitos de violación en redes sociales en el caso de denuncia de violación y suicidio de Antonia Barra Parra, joven chilena de 21 años. Se utilizó el análisis temático en el marco de la fenomenología social para analizar comentarios publicados en cuatro videos de noticias, producidos por los canales de televisión abierta chilenos disponibles en la plataforma de YouTube. Se identificaron cuatro temas generales: relativo a ella, relativo a la violación, estereotipos y relativos al suicidio, los tres primeros se refieren a los mitos de violación y el cuarto al suicidio de la víctima. Este estudio evidencia que los mitos de violación descritos en la literatura están presentes en los discursos de la red social, mostrando una fuerte carga misógina y descalificatoria hacia la mujer. Además, emergen mitos de violación particulares, los que se relacionan con estereotipos asociados a la belleza hegemónica y al estatus social de la víctima y del agresor. Los contenidos relativos al suicidio muestran dos temas: comentarios que refuerzan los mitos de violación y comentarios que interpretan el suicidio como un acto que devela la agresión sexual. Los resultados sugieren que las redes sociales son un recurso valioso para estudiar cómo los individuos (re)producen la cultura de la violación en el análisis de casos de violencia sexual.
... One of the conceptualizations intending to explain how sexual violence is legitimized and validated is rape myths [16]. Rape myths are defined as culturally ingrained, false, widespread, and persistent attitudes and beliefs to justify, deny or normalize men's sexual aggressions against women [13,[16][17][18]. These beliefs produce bias in the attributions toward those involved in sexual aggression, making the victim responsible and reducing the aggressor's blame [19][20][21]. ...
... This scale maintains classic and direct language in measuring these myths [13]. Gerger et al., [17] following studies about modern racism and sexism, propose modernizing language to assess rape myths. They developed an instrument with less obvious statements about rape and other forms of sexual assault, using subtle, indirect, and implicit language [17,22]. ...
... Gerger et al., [17] following studies about modern racism and sexism, propose modernizing language to assess rape myths. They developed an instrument with less obvious statements about rape and other forms of sexual assault, using subtle, indirect, and implicit language [17,22]. ...
Rape myths are beliefs, stereotypes, and attitudes usually false, widespread, and persistent about rape, victims, and perpetrators. They aim to deny and justify men’s sexual assault against women. This study evaluates the mediating effect of modern rape myths on the relationship between gender system justification and attribution of blame to both victim and perpetrator in a fictional case of sexual violence. A total of 375 individuals residing in Chile, 255 women and 120 men, 19–81 years (M = 37.6 SD = 13.06) participated in the study. Results from a Structural Equation Model show that gender system justification is directly related to the attribution of blame to the victim, showing an indirect relationship throughout the modern rape myth. However, gender system justification and attribution of blame to the aggressor are indirectly related, being mediated by modern rape myths. The study of the relationship between the acceptance of modern rape myths, gender-specific system justification, and victim and aggressor blame for rape is a contribution to understanding beliefs justifying sexual violence against women.
... These categories of rape myths, Gerd Bohner and colleagues argue, are both prescriptive and descriptive in nature. Subscription to such myths functions as an interpretive schema that guides the perceptions surrounding rape case evidence and information (Bohner et al. 2005;Gerger et al. 2007). As such, rape myths serve to both predispose and bias judgements about who may be lying and telling the truth . ...
... As such, rape myths appear to be adopted as "anxiety buffers" (Langevoort 1998). Indeed, some thinking suggests rape myths often, therefore, have a self-serving function by which women are able to psychologically distance themselves from the perceived threat of being raped (i.e., I would fight off an attacker or I wouldn't put myself in such a vulnerable situation) and for men, distance their sexual experiences and behaviour from those which would be considered rape (i.e., women often say no when really they mean yes but don't want to come across as easy) (Burrowes 2013;Gerger et al. 2007;Hockett et al. 2016). Alternatively, women who reject such myths likely construe rape to be a threat to all women, including themselves (Gerger et al. 2007). ...
... Indeed, some thinking suggests rape myths often, therefore, have a self-serving function by which women are able to psychologically distance themselves from the perceived threat of being raped (i.e., I would fight off an attacker or I wouldn't put myself in such a vulnerable situation) and for men, distance their sexual experiences and behaviour from those which would be considered rape (i.e., women often say no when really they mean yes but don't want to come across as easy) (Burrowes 2013;Gerger et al. 2007;Hockett et al. 2016). Alternatively, women who reject such myths likely construe rape to be a threat to all women, including themselves (Gerger et al. 2007). It is however important to note that men and boys can and do experience sexual victimisation. ...
The focus of this paper is to highlight and review evidence surrounding common Intimate Partner Rape (IPR) myths, their prevalence in society, and identify those who are most likely to endorse such beliefs. Six core IPR myths are discussed related to misconceptions surrounding (1) women’s decisions to remain in abusive relationships, (2) why women delay or never report IPR, (3) women’s perceived motivations when an IPR report is made, (4) a perceived lack of trauma that occurs as a consequence of this type of rape, (5) male sexual entitlement within intimate relationships, and (6) whether it is even possible to rape a marital partner. This article draws together a wealth of studies and research that evidence why such IPR myths are indeed factually inaccurate and examines how victims, justice professionals, police practitioners, and legal decision-makers endorsement of false beliefs pertaining to intimate partner rape serve to hinder various justice pathways. We discuss the consequences of rape mythology in so far as they create social barriers that prohibit the reporting of rape, impact upon the progression of an allegation through the criminal justice system and ultimately, obstruct rape victims’ access to justice. The review concludes by considering evidence regarding the possible benefits of education interventions in reducing the problematic influence of rape myths.
... Here we present the revision of a scale assessing the acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA). The original AMMSA scale (Gerger et al., 2007) extended the concept of rape myths by incorporating beliefs about a wider range of sexual aggression, including sexual assault and harassment. Its authors defined myths about sexual aggression as "descriptive or prescriptive beliefs about sexual aggression . ...
... The AMMSA scale was initially developed in English and German (Gerger et al., 2007); later, translations to Spanish (Megías et al., 2011), Greek (Hantzi et al., 2015), Japanese (Imakita et al., 2019), and French (Courtois et al., 2021) were validated, as well as a Russian 16-item short form (Khokhlova & Bohner, 2020). Some researchers also used ad-hoc translations to other languages (e.g., Gul & Schuster, 2020;Milesi et al., 2020). ...
... Some researchers also used ad-hoc translations to other languages (e.g., Gul & Schuster, 2020;Milesi et al., 2020). In January 2022 the Web of Science listed 162 articles citing Gerger et al. (2007); these included 56 articles reporting research in which some version of the AMMSA scale was used. Several studies have addressed cognitive, motivational, and behavioral functions of AMMSA (for a review, see Bohner et al., in press), showing that AMMSA serves as a schema in judgments of plaintiff credibility (Bohner & Schapansky, 2018), defendant guilt, and victim blame in cases of sexual violence (e.g., Eyssel & Bohner, 2011;Milesi et al., 2020). ...
The authors present a revised version of the Acceptance of Modern Myths About Sexual Aggression scale (AMMSA-21) in four languages (English, German, Polish and Spanish) and examine its reliability and validity (total N = 1,459). AMMSA-21 addresses themes emerging in recent public discourse (e.g., beliefs about false accusations) and contents similar to the original scale (e.g., antagonism towards victims’ demands); with 21 items, it is 30% shorter than the original. Factor analyses suggested that AMMSA-21 may be treated as a unidimensional construct. Across the four language versions, AMMSA-21 showed high internal consistency and criterion validity (positive correlations with hostile and benevolent sexism, social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism); its scores were unrelated to socially desirable responding. Also, AMMSA-21 predicted judgements of victim-blaming and rape proclivity in relation to acquaintance-rape scenarios. Mean differences across language versions (Spanish < English = German < Polish) are discussed in terms of cultural influences. In sum, AMMSA-21 represents a reliable, valid and economical measure of contemporary sexual aggression myths.
... These types of cognitive schemes allow access to heuristic representations of information to judgment making about sexual violence (McKimmie et al., 2020). Thus, individuals sharing these myths use them to deny, minimize, overgeneralize or justify the violence of men against women (Gerger et al., 2007), while favoring risky sexual behaviors (Álvarez-Muelas et al., 2020), and a different evaluation of the same behaviors by men and women (sexual double standard; Álvarez-Muelas et al., 2021), a contingency with a high prevalence in the Hispanic context (Martínez-Gómez et al., 2021). Conversely, the perception of the complainant as chaste, respectable or sober i.e., gender victim stereotypes (counter-myths) is related to the opposite trend (Schuller et al., 2010). ...
... For the measurement of myths about sexual aggression, it was applied the Chilean adaptation (Camplá et al., 2019a,b) of the AMMSA Scale (Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression; Gerger et al., 2007). This adaptation, with a unidimensional structure, consists of 14 items to which people respond on a 7-point Likert-type scale from completely disagree (1) to completely agree (7). ...
... Regarding the incidence of myths about sexual assault, the results obtained with Chilean judicial agents showed, in general, a systematic tendency of disagreement with the myths about sexual assault. Bearing in mind the theoretical content categories of the scale (Gerger et al., 2007), they express disagreement with the denial of the scope of sexual violence, as well as with gender stereotypes about male sexuality, the beliefs that exonerate perpetrators of violence, and the naturalization of male coercion. At the same time, they are in favor of the demands of the victims and of the policies designed to address the effects of sexual violence. ...
Background/Objective
Judicial decisions must rest on formal reasoning. Nevertheless, informal reasoning sources (cognitive and motivational biases) were observed in judicial judgment making. Literature has identified sexual aggression cases as the most favorable for informal reasoning. Thus, a field study was designed with the aim of assessing the incidence and effects of cognitive and motivational biases in judicial agents in a case to rape to a woman.
Methods
As for this, Chilean judicial agents ( N = 217) assessed an allegation (weak evidence) of sexual assault in a case where the perpetrator was known or unknown to the victim. The judicial agents answered to a measure of the myths about sexual aggression, the attribution of responsibility to complainant, the attribution of responsibility to accused, the attribution of credibility to the complainant testimony, the attribution of a nature of a rape to the alleged facts and an estimation of the probability of false/unfounded accusations.
Results
The results revealed an estimation of false/unfounded accusations of sexual aggression significantly higher than the mean of the best estimates, but into the upper limit of the best estimates; that the studied population did not share, in general, the myths about sexual aggression; and that the sources of attributional biases were driven in favor and against the complainant. Nevertheless, the case study showed that a large number of judicial agents participated of an overestimation of the probabilities of false or unfounded allegations, and of the myths about sexual aggressions and of attributional biases against the complainant.
Conclusion
In conclusion, informal reasoning sources were observed in judicial agents when only formal reasoning should prevail. Thus, judicial agents should be trained to control these sources of bias substituting them by formal reasoning (evidence).
... 26 The past few decades has seen growing public and policy concern with problematic attitudes and beliefs that underpin the social and legal treatment of sexual assault, as evidence of their existence, operation and detrimental effects has increased. A tradition of methodologically refined research has demonstrated a correlation between the valorisation of gender-based attitudes and beliefs, termed 'rape myths', and a tendency 'to deny, downplay, or justify sexual violence carried out by men against women (Gerger et al, 2007). The following sections discuss the progression of this body of work, identifying the complex picture of attrition that currently exists. ...
... Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) suggest that the falsity of some myths are beyond complete verification. Given the prescriptive nature of these myths, Gerger et al (2007) advocate for the exclusion of the term 'falsity' from the definition of rape myths. My use of the term 'inaccurate' in this context captures the general distinction between 'myth' and 'fact' on an empirical basis and acknowledges the prescriptive operations of myths despite their truth or falsity. ...
My research explores decision-making processes in the construction, authorisation and utilisation of briefs of evidence and case files in adult sexual assault cases. These artefacts are envisaged as representations of the event of sexual assault at the nexus of policing and prosecutorial institutions. In order to explore this, I discuss the organisational, institutional and juridical treatment and construction of sexual assault as articulated in briefs of evidence, and by brief authorising officers and investigators.
... Additionally, male victims of female perpetrators face a host of deleterious beliefs about their victimisation including that it is impossible for a woman to rape a man, that they encouraged their own victimization, and that they derived pleasure from their assault (Davies & Rogers, 2006). These stereotypical beliefs, also referred to as rape myths (Burt, 1980), are fundamentally different from those that apply to female victims who tend to be viewed as provoking their own victimization through their appearance (Gerger et al., 2007;Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994,1995McMahon & Farmer, 2011;Payne et al., 1999). ...
... It is also important to note that the underlying assumptions and stereotypical beliefs, termed rape myths (Burt, 1980), about how women come to be assaulted are fundamentally different than those for men. For women, core rape myths include that the victim is to blame for their rape (i.e., that the victim provoked the attack by way of their appearance), that women make unfounded rape claims as retaliation against male partners, that the rape is caused by the uncontrolled sex drive of the male perpetrator, or that there is a typical (e.g., promiscuous, heavy-drinking) type of woman who gets assaulted (Gerger et al., 2007;Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994,1995McMahon & Farmer, 2011;Payne et al., 1999). Male rape myths seem to focus less on the victim's perceived desirability as a provoking factor and focus more on the notion that men who are raped are weak, secretly gay, or that they would enjoy any type of sexual contact even if it is unwanted (Melanson, 1998). ...
For scenarios involving female victims of sexual violence, attractiveness and, more specifically, body weight seem to have an effect on perceptions of victims and perpetrators. As it is assumed that sexual victimisation is a result of sexual attraction to the victim by the perpetrator, female victims who are viewed as unattractive may not be seen as likely targets for victimisation. While this relationship holds true for women, higher weight men seem to be regarded the same as average weight men, potentially negating this effect of attractiveness observed in women. A sample of 186 participants from across Canada and the United States were recruited from social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Using a mock jury paradigm, participants were asked to provide their judgements on a case involving a perpetrator (presented as either male or female) and a male victim (presented as either thin or overweight) and answer several standardised measures of prejudicial attitudes. Results indicate that there is no effect of victim weight or perpetrator gender for male victims of sexual violence. There were several differences based on participant gender indicating that men tend to hold more prejudicial attitudes and generally endorse more pro-perpetrator/anti-victim attitudes than women. These results suggest that victim weight is not a salient variable to consider with male victims of sexual violence and that higher weight men are perceived similarly to average weight men.
... The response options differ from the ones used in Study 1 due to a mistake while programming the survey. To measure AMMSA, we used the Colombian adaptation (Romero-Sánchez et al., 2013) of the AMMSA Scale (Gerger et al., 2007). The response options went from 1 ('totally disagree') to 7 ('totally agree'). ...
... Las opciones de respuesta difieren de las utilizadas en el Estudio 1 debido a un error durante la programación de la encuesta. Para medir AMMSA utilizamos la adaptación colombiana (Romero-Sánchez et al., 2013) de la escala AMMSA (Gerger et al., 2007). Las opciones de respuesta abarcaron desde 1 ('completamente en desacuerdo') hasta 7 ('completamente de acuerdo'). ...
Two studies addressed links between moral foundations, political attitudes, religiosity and perceptions of rape in Colombian respondents. In Study 1, the authors developed a Colombian version of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). In Study 2, the MFQ was further validated in relation to the acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA), victim vs. perpetrator blaming regarding a rape vignette, political orientation and attitudes towards religion. Results showed that the Colombian MFQ was more reliable than an existing Spanish version. Endorsement of conservative foundations (ingroup loyalty, obedience to authority and purity) predicted right-wing political attitudes, higher religiosity, higher AMMSA and more rape victim blaming. Conversely, endorsement of liberal foundations (care and justice) predicted lower SDO and less rape victim blaming. These results replicate and extend previous work, including the critique that conservative foundations may reflect amoral attitudes rather than universal moral intuitions. Implications and requirements for further research are discussed.
... Las escalas sobre los mitos de la violación empleadas en los años 80, como la apuntada por Martha Burt (1980), ya no son significativas. Optamos por la escala de medición AMMSA porque es una de las más aceptadas internacionalmente (Gerger et al., 2007). ...
... Con una especificación de la articulación de los mitos sobre la violación, podremos abordar la violencia contra las mujeres, en general; y la violencia sexual, en particular, sin incurrir en la victimización secundaria. Según Gerger et al., (2007) las funciones que cumplen los mitos de la violación, en la escala AMMSA, son las siguientes: -Negación de la magnitud del problema. ...
Introducción. El caso de ‘La Manada’ de los SanFermines comienza en el año 2016, con la denuncia de una mujer por un delito de violación de cinco varones. El mediático caso supone una reacción social, política y mediática sin precedentes en España. El procedimiento judicial trae al foco del debate los conceptos de consentimiento, violencia e intimidación. Objetivos. El objetivo de este artículo es aportar un análisis de los datos sobre la violación en España y un marco de interpretación feminista sobre la violencia sexual, con el fin de evitar relatos estereotipados que dificulten la visibilización de este delito como una cuestión estructural. Metodología. El trabajo se sustenta en la función que cumplen los mitos de la violación en la escala AMMSA aplicados al caso de ‘La Manada’. Los mitos sobre la violación en el caso de ‘La Manada’. El debate del procedimiento judicial gira en torno a la distancia entre abuso y agresión; entre si había existido violencia o intimidación. La victimización secundaria se produce al no creer la declaración de la víctima; al contratar a un detective para seguir su vida y al cuestionar su comportamiento antes del crimen; así como por el uso de la grabación del acto delictivo. Conclusiones. Las violaciones grupales como ‘La Manada’ arrojan un relato en que, implícitamente, se relaciona el delito de violación con el espacio público y con varones desconocidos. Sin embargo, se ha constatado que los hogares son el primer espacio en el que se producen las violaciones y que son las niñas (0-17 años) las primeras víctimas en España. Es preciso conceptualizar la violación como una cuestión estructural; y acabar con la distancia antagónica entre el espacio público y privado que, todavía, esconde un mandato patriarcal histórico: el hogar es el espacio seguro para las mujeres.
... Additionally, male victims of female perpetrators face a host of deleterious beliefs about their victimization including that it is impossible for a woman to rape a man, that they encouraged their own victimization, and that they derived pleasure from their assault (Davies & Rogers, 2006). These stereotypical beliefs, also referred to as rape myths (Burt, 1980), are fundamentally different from those that apply to female victims who tend to be viewed as provoking their own victimization through their appearance (Gerger et al., 2007;Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994;1995;McMahon & Farmer, 2011;Payne et al., 1999). ...
... It is also important to note that the underlying assumptions and stereotypical beliefs, termed rape myths (Burt, 1980), about how women come to be assaulted are fundamentally different than those for men. For women, core rape myths include that the victim is to blame for their rape (i.e., that the victim provoked the attack by way of their appearance), that women make unfounded rape claims as retaliation against male partners, that the rape is caused by the uncontrolled sex drive of the male perpetrator, or that there is a typical (e.g., promiscuous, heavy-drinking) type of woman who gets assaulted (Gerger et al., 2007;Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994;1995;McMahon & Farmer, 2011;Payne et al., 1999). Male rape myths seem to focus less on the victim's perceived desirability as a provoking factor and focus more on the notion that men who are raped are weak, secretly gay, or that they would enjoy any type of sexual contact even if it is unwanted (Melason, 1998). ...
For scenarios involving female victims of sexual violence, attractiveness and, more specifically, body weight seem to have an effect on perceptions of victims and perpetrators. As it is assumed that sexual victimization is a result of sexual attraction to the victim by the perpetrator, female victims who are viewed as unattractive may not be seen as likely targets for victimization. While this relationship holds true for women, higher weight men seem to be regarded the same as average weight men, potentially negating this effect of attractiveness observed in women. A sample of 186 participants from across Canada and the United States were recruited from social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Using a mock jury paradigm, participants were asked to provide their judgements on a case involving a perpetrator (presented as either male or female) and a male victim (presented as either thin or overweight) and answer several standardized measures of prejudicial attitudes. Results indicate that there is no effect of victim weight or perpetrator gender for male victims of sexual violence. There were several differences based on participant gender indicating that men tend to hold more prejudicial attitudes and generally endorse more pro-perpetrator/anti-victim attitudes than women. These results suggest that victim weight is not a salient variable to consider with male victims of sexual violence and that higher weight men are perceived similarly to average weight men.
Accepted for publication in Psychreg: Journal of Psychology. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the journal.
... These distorted sexual attitudes are intertwined with scripts for appropriate behaviours of men and women and were rooted in traditional patriarchal values (Brinson, 1992). Although there are differences found in rape-supportive cognitions that exist among cultures and societies, they often reflect a concept in which they blame the victim and express their disbelief in rape; excuse the perpetrator and suggest that only certain types of women would be raped (Gerger et al., 2007). They minimise the effect of sexual assault and sometimes intimate the possibility of the victim either wrongly accusing someone, or it being their fault altogether (Li et al., 2017). ...
Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA) remains a persistent problem in rape and sexual assault cases. Several scholars discussed RMA as a cognitive distortion that constitutes a crucial link between psychopathy and rape perpetration. Research has indicated that empathy can help counteract bias and promote understanding and support for individuals who have experienced sexual violence. The overall goal of this study was to experimentally assess the relationship between empathy priming, psychopathy, and RMA. Specifically, it aimed to examine whether psychopathic traits influence the relationship between empathy priming and RMA. The study included 518 participants from Ontario Tech University and the community. Results indicated that the amount of effort invested in the empathy priming task significantly reduced rape-supportive attitudes, but only when the participants had high levels of psychopathic personality traits. Limitations of the study and potential directions for future research are discussed.
... Much existing research examining failures to prosecute successfully in cases involving sexual offenses has focused on the potential influence of rape myths-"descriptive or prescriptive beliefs about rape … that serve to deny, downplay, or justify sexual violence … " (Dawtry et al., 2019;Gerger et al., 2007;Leverick, 2020). This research has led legal systems to take steps to counter the potential influence of rape myths. ...
General Audience Summary
In some legal cases, including cases involving sexual offenses, testimony from a defendant and complainant are often primary evidence that is considered by a jury. In these cases, jurors must examine the testimony of the defendant and the complainant and determine who they believe is telling the truth (or, more broadly, whose account they believe is accurate). Relatively little is known about how juries perform in this role. In this article, I draw on a lie detection framework known as the Adaptive Lie Detector Framework and a psychological theory of memory and decision-making known as fuzzy-trace theory in order to examine the influence of one particular factor—perceptions of the prevalence of true and false allegations—on evaluations of testimony given by others. Results provide insight into people’s perceptions of prevalence relevant to these judgements, suggesting that, at least in the U.K., people may currently overestimate the prevalence of false allegations of both rape and child sexual assault. As predicted, results showed that providing evidence-based information to people led them to update their perceptions of prevalence, but the influence that this information had on subsequent evaluations was dependent on how the information was framed. When the information was framed as a rate of true allegations (encouraging extraction of a gist that most allegations are true) participants believed the complainant more when compared to the defendant. In contrast, when the information was framed as a rate of false allegations (encouraging extraction of a gist that some allegations are false) participants believed the complainant less when compared to the defendant. Results provide important insight into how jurors may operate when seeking to judge witness honesty and statement accuracy and have implications for current debates relating to increasing prosecutions in cases involving sexual offenses.
... Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA). The AMMSA scale (Gerger, Kley, Bohner, & Siebler, 2007) is a self-report unidimensional 30-item measurement tool designed to be a subtle measure of modern rape myth beliefs and broader attitudes held about sexual aggression (e.g., "women often accuse their husbands of marital rape just to retaliate for a failed relationship"). Responses are measured using a seven-point Likert scale (1 = "completely disagree" to 7 = "completely agree") and are summed to attain a total rape myth score (possible range = 30 -210), with higher scores indicating greater acceptance or endorsement of modern rape myths. ...
Introduction
Trial by jury is a longstanding legal tradition used in common law jurisdictions to try the most serious of criminal cases. Yet, despite hearing the same trial evidence, individual jurors often arrive at different verdict decisions, indicating that they may be impacted by more than the evidence presented at trial. This study therefore sought to investigate the role of jurors’ psychopathology, attitudinal, experiential, and demographic characteristics upon individual verdict decisions.
Methods
Adopting an improved mock trial paradigm, 108 jury-eligible participants took part in one of nine identical 12-person mock trial simulations depicting a videotaped recreation of an intimate partner rape trial. Pre-trial, mock-jurors completed a psychosocial survey capturing their psychopathic personality traits ( affective and cognitive responsiveness, interpersonal manipulation; egocentricity ), rape myth beliefs, victimization experiences and demographics. Post-trial, jurors deliberated to reach a collective group decision and individual verdict decisions were recorded pre- and post-deliberation.
Results
Binary logistic regression analyses revealed rape myth beliefs and juror ethnicity were significantly related to verdict decisions both pre- and post-deliberation. Post-deliberation, decreased affective responsiveness (empathy) and experience of sexual victimization were also found to be significant predictors of guilty verdict selections.
Discussion
These findings indicate for the first time that within an intimate-partner rape trial, certain psychosocial traits, crime-specific attitudes, and experiences of sexual victimization appear to predispose juror judgments and decision-making even after group-deliberation. This study therefore has important implications for understanding how individual differences among jurors may impact rape trial verdict outcomes and the need for targeted juror reforms.
... Las trece escalas incluidas en este apartado analizan las actitudes que tienen tanto hombres como mujeres hacia la VG. Valoran si están de acuerdo o no que se ejerza algún tipo de violencia, ya sea en el noviazgo (AMDV y AFDV; Price et al., 1999;y DAI;Schwartz et al., 2012), o cuando están ya casados (DAI; Saunders et al., 1987); las actitudes hacia la VG como el abuso psicológico, la violencia física y las conductas de control (IP-VAS-R; Fincham et al., 2008); el nivel de aceptabilidad de la VG (A-IPVAW; Martín-Fernández et al., 2018a); si se culpabiliza a la víctima en casos de VG (VB-IPVAW; Martín-Fernández et al., 2018a); o el nivel de tolerancia hacia la VG (WI-IPAVW; Martín-Fernández et al., 2018b); si se aceptan los mitos sobre la agresión sexual (AMMSA; Gerger et al., 2007;Bohner, et al., 2022); o se aceptan los mitos sobre la VG (AMIVAW; Megías, et al., 2018;y DVMAS;Lelaurain et al., 2018); o las actitudes favorables a la violación (RSAS; Lottes, 1991;Sierra et al., 2007); o hacia el tráfico sexual (STAS; Houston-Kolnik, 2016). ...
... Actualmente existen varios instrumentos para medir el consentimiento sexual en otros países. Por ejemplo, existen escalas como la Escala de Consentimiento Sexual-Revisada [Sexual Consent Scale-Revised, SCS-R] (Humphreys & Brousseau, 2010) y la Aceptación de los Mitos Modernos sobre la Agresión Sexual (Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression, AMMSA] (Gerger et al., 2007) que exploran las actitudes hacia el consentimiento y creencias sobre la violación. La SCS-R mide las actitudes hacia conductas relacionadas al consentimiento sexual, normas subjetivas, control percibido, consciencia sobre las discusiones que se tienen sobre el consentimiento sexual y la comunicación al negociar el consentimiento sexual. ...
RESUMEN Las actitudes hacia el consentimiento sexual tienen un papel importante en la distinción entre la comunicación sexual saludable y violencia. Nuestro propósito en este estudio fue desarrollar y validar la Escala de Consentimiento Sexual (ECS) en una muestra de personas adultas puertorriqueñas. La ECS explora las actitudes hacia el consentimiento sexual. En fases independientes, evaluamos la validez de contenido por un panel de expertos (n=9), mientras que en un grupo focal (n=6) exploramos la compresión de los ítems. Las propiedades psicométricas del instrumento la evaluamos con una muestra independiente (n= 211). En el análisis factorial exploratorio, nueve ítems cumplieron con los criterios de asignación de factores al producir una estructura factorial bidimensional que explicó el 58,82% de la varianza de los datos, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, KMO.840; 2 (36) x 756.915, p < .001. El índice de consistencia interna de la escala alcanzó un valor de consistencia interna apropiado (α = .79; alfa estandarizada = .80; M x 30,23; 2.72). Los hallazgos sugieren que la ECS captura dos aspectos del consentimiento sexual: las actitudes hacia la solicitud y la obtención del consentimiento. Concluimos que el ECS es un instrumento válido y confiable para evaluar estos constructos en el contexto sociocultural puertorriqueño. ABSTRACT Attitudes toward sexual consent play an important role in distinguishing between healthy sexual communication and violence. In this study, our aim was to develop and validate the Sexual Consent Scale (ECS, by the acronym in Spanish) in a sample of Puerto Rican adults. The ECS explores attitudes towards sexual consent. On independent phases, we evaluated the content validity with a panel of expert (n=9), and with a focus group we explored items were understandable (n=6). The psychometric properties of the instrument were evaluated with an independent sample (n = 211). In the exploratory factor analysis, nine items met the criteria for assigning factors by producing a two-dimensional factorial structure that explained 58.82% of the variance of the data, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, KMO .840; 2 (36) x 756.915, p < .001. The internal consistency index of the scale reached an appropriate internal consistency value (α = .79; standardized alpha = .80; M x 30.23; 2.72). The findings suggest that the ECS captures two aspects of sexual consent: attitudes towards solicitation and obtaining consent. We conclude that the ECS is a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate these constructs in the Puerto Rican sociocultural context.
... Reliability was reported to vary between α = .90 and α = .95 in different samples (Gerger et al., 2007). ...
The present study investigated whether the core constructs of Malamuth's confluence model (i.e., hostility against individuals of the same sex and sexual orientation [HASSO], impersonal sexuality [IS], and high dominance/low nurturance [HDLN]) could predict sexual aggressive behavior (SA) of gay men against other gay men and of lesbian women against other lesbian women. For both gay men (N = 226) and lesbian women (N = 190) regression analysis showed that IS, HDLN, and especially HASSO proved to be important predictors for sexual aggression. The confluence of all three risk factors in terms of a three-way interaction added to the prediction of SA in lesbian women but not in gay men. Overall, the three predictors explained 30% of the variance in SA among men and 62% of the variance in SA among women.
... For police officers, evaluations of victim credibility (i.e., the extent to which first responders believe the victim) are important for the reporting process and influence outcomes (O'Neal, 2019). Closely related to victim credibility is the concept of rape myths, or beliefs about rape that diminish or legitimize sexual victimization (Gerger et al., 2007). In an examination of 400 sexual assault complaints, O'Neal (2019) found that officers were less likely to question a victim's credibility when the case featured "real rape" stereotypes (e.g., a violent and physical assault perpetrated by a stranger) and were more likely to question a victim's credibility when character flaws (e.g., mental illness and reputation) and risk factors (e.g., substance abuse) were present. ...
Given policing’s hypermasculine subculture, organizational structure based on hegemonic masculinity, and persistent lack of diversity among police forces nationwide, it is clear that gender has been an influential force in policing since its inception. However, while the issue has interested scholars for decades, countless questions persist surrounding its role in perpetuating many of the social problems facing policing today, such as the following: Would hiring more women and gender-nonconforming officers improve citizen perceptions of police? Would it result in more positive interactions and outcomes between citizens and police officers? How do citizen and officer gender dynamics shape the outcomes of interactions and cases, particularly gendered cases such as intimate partner violence and sexual assault? Can LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) liaison officers help to mend decades of tension between police and queer communities? Each of these gender-related questions and more have implications for the experiences of police officers, organizations, and communities and for the future of American policing overall.
... 217). Rape myths have been used to "deny, downplay or justify sexually aggressive behaviours that men commit against women" [13] (p. 423). ...
Previous studies have demonstrated the prevalence and negative consequences of rape myths in various social contexts, including their impact on jury decision-making. The current study adopted a mixed methods design to explore how educating jurors about rape myths via a judge’s direction affected their decision-making regarding the guilt or innocence of a defendant in a rape case. Data were obtained from two mock trials and 12 questionnaire responses. The sample consisted of 12 women participants aged from 20 to 25. The thematic analysis indicated that participants who received rape myths education exhibited resistance to rape myths, increased scrutiny of the defendant as opposed to the complainant, and less disbelief of the complainant’s alleged behaviours. Quantitative analysis suggested a strong positive correlation between the understanding of rape myths education and its influence on decision making; however, this was only found in the intervention group. Findings showed insights into the possible advantages of rape myths education for jurors that were delivered via the judge’s direction. Future research directions and implications were discussed.
... The 10-item Sexual Reductionism Scale (Peter & Valkenburg, 2007) measures objectification of women (e. g., "An attractive woman should expect sexual advances and should learn how to handle them"; α = 0.79). (Gerger et al., 2007) measures participants' tendency to downplay or justify sexual violence committed against women (e.g., "It is a biological necessity for men to release sexual pressure from time to time."; α = 0.93). ...
In recent years, involuntary celibates who identify as “Incels” have received considerable public attention because of their misogynistic online discourse and their tie to a string of violent acts motivated by hatred of women. Yet, surprisingly no prior quantitative research has examined whether unwanted celibacy – a subjective psychological experience characteristic of, but not exclusive, to Incels – is associated with misogynistic attitudes among men. The current study (N = 349 men) collected self-report data from a convenience sample of Incel and non-Incel men to investigate whether the degree of unwanted celibacy is associated with misogynistic attitudes. Unwanted celibacy was positively associated with hostile attitudes towards women, sexual objectification and rape myths, even after controlling for personality traits such as agreeableness. These novel quantitative results indicate that unwanted celibacy is an important psychological risk factor for misogynistic attitudes.
... inviting the defendant home for a coffee; Gray, 2015). Jurors who endorse certain rape myths (e.g. a woman who invites a man to her home after a night out wants to have sex; Gerger et al., 2007) may be especially likely to hold a victim accountable if the defendant claims he believed she consented (Payne et al., 1999). ...
Rape victim testimony may seem incongruent with the ‘real rape’ stereotype and appear more consistent with typical consensual sex. This research investigated whether having victims describe stereotype-consistent events early in their testimony guides jurors to construct narratives of the evidence that are consistent with rape and depict the defendant as guilty. In Study 1, a convenience sample (N = 38, 65.79% female, 34.21% male) watched video testimony in which the victim described the details of the assault first or last, with participants verbalising their thoughts about the testimony as they watched. We then recorded participants’ spoken narratives about the alleged rape, which community members (N = 418, 41.15% female, 58.61% male, 0.24% gender-fluid) evaluated in Study 2. In Study 1, participants’ thoughts in the rape-first condition suggested they attended more to the victim’s non-verbal cues to deception than the events described. Consistent with this, participants in Study 2 rated the narratives of those in the rape-first condition as less complete. However, counter to predictions, participants’ perceptions of the narratives as typical of rape did not differ based on condition. Further, participants were less likely to find the defendant guilty after listening to the narratives of those in the rape-first condition.
This chapter builds on previous work on rape trials and rape culture by delineating the ways in which the classed notion of ‘respectability’ is operationalised within the courtroom context. I argue that middle-class ideals of ‘respectability’ re/produce, and are re/produced by, the notion of the ‘ideal victim’. Further, I delineate the ways in which the deeply embedded gendered concept of ‘hysteria’ is implicated within this. Ultimately, I argue that it is crucial that debates and research on sexual violence are situated within a broader cultural context that widens the lens with which rape myths in the courtroom, as well as in the wider criminal justice system, are viewed. Without this, fair justice will likely continue to be out of reach for many victim-survivors.
Considerable research demonstrates that rape myths continue to be influential across sexual offences trials in England and Wales, despite ongoing and significant reform. Rape myths act to mislead the jury, decrease the likelihood of conviction and increase the risk of secondary victimisation or ‘judicial rape’ of the complainant. Yet, despite extensive academic research and policy reform, the underlying legal context of trial can arguably linked to ongoing rape myth usage.
England and Wales operate within an adversarial legal system, characterised by a battle-like structure whereby partisan advocates from two opposing sides ‘argue’ their case. Whilst increasingly criticised in relation to the treatment of vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, a systematic understanding of how the adversarial structure impacts upon rape myth construction is lacking. This exploratory study therefore uses extracts from court observation research, to explore rape myth construction in reference to underlying adversarial ideals. It concludes that the adversarial ‘contest’ and focus on winning appear to facilitate and even incentivise advocates to rely upon rape myth narratives at trial and, as such, advocates routinely exploit adversarial constructs so as to ‘win’ the battle.
According to explanationist theories of evidence, fact-finders reason by evaluating the ‘goodness’ of different narratives that explain the evidence. One standard is external coherence: does the narrative fit with what the fact-finder knows or assumes about the world? This study uses qualitative content analysis to examine how District Court judges draw inferences directly from ‘background knowledge’ in 119 Finnish rape cases and how these inferences are contested by dissenting and appellate judges. The results show that especially the complainant's behaviour was frequently evaluated against behavioural scripts and other background beliefs. Outspoken reliance on rape myths was relatively rare, and myths were explicitly resisted as often as they were relied upon. Where judges used stereotypical behaviour to support the rape complainant's testimony, this reasoning could be explained by the search for optimum (explanatory) coherence or the Finnish legal principle that a rape complainant's testimony requires supporting evidence. Judges also used estimates of prior probabilities to inform their reasoning; few behaviours are impossible, but some actions are ‘more coherent’ with rape than with non-rape, or vice versa. Accruing the type of knowledge necessary (and usually unavailable) for probabilistic reasoning is therefore necessary also for explanationist reasoning.
The aim of this study was to validate the Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale-Perpetration Version (ISOS-P), a measure that assesses sexual objectification perpetration. The sample consisted of 356 heterosexual men of Spanish nationality. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed. The Spanish validation of the ISOS-P comprises 15 items and showed a trifactorial structure. McDonald’s omega values ranged from 0.71 to 0.80, and evidences of validity are shown by positive correlations with the endorsement of a positive attitude toward rape and having perpetrated several sexual aggression types. The Spanish validation of the ISOS-P is a valid and reliable scale.
Participants (N = 496) reviewed an ambiguous rape scenario involving a "perpetrator," either in a high or low authority position, and a "victim," who had or had not consumed alcohol. They indicated whether they viewed what happened as rape, and rated the perceived responsibility of the individuals involved. They also completed Conservatism and Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA) scales. Most believed the scenario to constitute rape. Perpetrator responsibility ratings were highest in the high-authority condition, and victims were assigned greater responsibility when they had consumed alcohol. Those who scored higher on the Conservatism/RMA scale attributed less responsibility to the perpetrator and more responsibility to the victim across all conditions.
Recently, the introduction of a “rape shield law”, which prohibits evidence that is related to the victim’s privacy or irrelevant from being revealed to the court, is being discussed in Japan. This study aimed to primarily examine the impact of victim-related information (sexual history and occupation) on the defendant’s sentence. A Bayesian approach was used for the analysis. The findings revealed that the main effects of victim-related information on sentencing included 0 in their credible intervals, indicating that there were no main effects. However, the analysis of interaction effects indicated that when the victim was described as having more records of sexual history and to be working in the sex industry, the defendant was recommended to serve a longer sentence than when no description of the victim’s sexual history and occupation was provided and when the victim was described as working in the sex industry. The policy implications of the above results were discussed.
According to Norwegian legislation, "sexual activity with a person who is unconscious or for other reasons incapable of resisting the act" constitutes sexual assault. Our task in this article is to identify the kind of sexual harms that are (un)protected by this paragraph and to discuss the boundaries of rape that are set by legal practice. We do so through a systematic analysis of all verdicts on incapacity and sexual assault at appel-late court levels through 2019 and 2020. The analysis strengthens our concern for victims' right to equality before the law and for the quality of courts' legal veridiction and interpretation of both law and sexual assault.
La violencia que sufren las mujeres ha cobrado mayor relevancia pública en las últimas décadas. No obstante, a pesar del movimiento feminista, de la conciencia ciudadana, de las políticas sociales y de los avances legislativos, siguen presentes estereotipos hacia las víctimas de violencia de género y de agresiones sexuales en la sociedad actual, que afectan a su asistencia y recuperación. La presencia de estos estereotipos en profesionales puede dificultar o empeorar la atención que se ofrece hacia las víctimas. El objeto de este trabajo es identificar la presencia estereotipos de género en profesionales que intervienen en los servicios sociales comunitarios (SSC), y que prestan atención directa a posibles víctimas de violencia de género y de agresiones sexuales. Para ello, se ha realizado una investigación cuantitativa, a través de la implementación de un cuestionario, a 122 profesionales de los servicios sociales comunitarios de municipios de Mallorca que realizan intervención directa. Los resultados muestran que la formación específica con la que los y las profesionales cuentan puede condicionar su intervención, además de dar lugar a la presencia de algunos estereotipos. A partir de estos resultados se propone proporcionar formación obligatoria en materia de igualdad de género a profesionales que realizan su labor en centros de SSC ya que podría mejorar su intervención de cara a la identificación y prevención de la violencia de género y las agresiones sexuales.
Nonconsensual condom removal (NCCR; also known as "stealthing") involves the removal of a condom before or during sexual intercourse without a partner's sexual consent. Within the past several years, nations across the globe have codified NCCR as a form of sexual violence penalized by civil and/or criminal penalties. Given the recent legal attention to this behavior, we performed a scoping review of the peer-reviewed, empirical, English-language studies conducted on NCCR in order to summarize the current state of this field of research. Our scoping review yielded 27 articles meeting study inclusion criteria. Data on NCCR victimization and perpetration prevalence rates and correlates, as well as perceptions of NCCR, were extracted. The majority of the reviewed studies were conducted within the past 5 years and pertained to NCCR victimization. Rates of NCCR victimization ranged from 7.9% to 43.0% for women and 5.0% to 19.0% for men who have sex with men; rates of NCCR perpetration ranged from 5.1% to 9.8% for men and 0% for women. NCCR correlates included sociodemographic variables, relationship type, psychological factors, and sexual health concerns. Perceptions of NCCR were largely negative. The nascent field of NCCR research provides empirical evidence from several countries regarding concerning rates of NCCR. Building upon this foundation, continued research regarding NCCR is imperative. Studies that further delineate NCCR prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes would provide critical information beneficial to the development of evidence-based prevention and intervention programs targeting reductions in NCCR.
The #MeToo movement has provoked a worldwide discussion about sexual violence. Some critics of the movement argue that it violates the presumption of innocence. In the current study, we investigated the determinants of the perception of the presumption of innocence in the context of media depictions of violence. We took into account previous studies that suggest that people view more favorably defendants in rape trials than they do men accused of other crimes and that people view more favorably defendants with a high socioeconomic status than they do those with a low socioeconomic status. The current study investigated whether the perception of the presumption of innocence is related to the type of crime (sexual vs. nonsexual assault) or to the socioeconomic status of the defendant (a famous writer vs. a maintenance worker). We conducted a vignette-based study with a sample of Polish people (N = 158). The type of crime did not influence the perception of the presumption of innocence; however, women who participated in the study endorsed the presumption of innocence to a greater extent when the defendant had a high socioeconomic status. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Using a 60-day daily e-diary tool, 117 women undergraduate students reported sexual harassment on a Canadian university campus (4,283 diary surveys, collectively). Participants reported 181 incidents of both ambient sexual harassment (witnessing 40 incidents, hearing 106 unwelcomed sexual jokes/remarks) and targeted personal experiences of non-physical sexual harassment (35 incidents). Qualitative data document students' descriptions of these encounters and contextualize how these are part of everyday student life. Findings show that students experience this harassment almost daily-in an ongoing, persistent, and normalized way-and that university can be a hostile environment where the possibility of daily unwanted sexual experiences is a lived, endemic reality.
Objective:
Misperception of sexual intent is linked to incidence of sexual assault. The present study tested the effects of gender, alcohol consumption, and leaving a party together, in isolation and in interaction, on perceptions of sexual intent.
Participants:
Undergraduates (N = 438) completed an online survey between Winter 2017 and Winter 2018.
Methods:
Participants read one of eight versions of a vignette about a social interaction between male and female college-aged acquaintances and rated the targets' sexual interest in each other. Who was consuming alcohol (both targets, female only, male only, or neither) and whether the targets left together were manipulated.
Results:
Alcohol consumption and leaving together interacted. Leaving together signified to participants that both targets had greater sexual intent. When targets left separately, participants viewed both targets as less sexually interested in each other when only the female was drinking.
Conclusions:
Implications for sexual assault on college campuses are discussed.
Rape myth acceptance and psychopathy are well-documented predictors of rape proclivity. The present research (N = 185; convenience sample of German men) focused on the interplay of both risk factors in the prediction of rape proclivity. It was tested whether men with simultaneously high values on rape myth acceptance and psychopathy (1) show an added risk of behaving sexually aggressive (main effects only hypothesis), (2) show a similar level of risk compared to men who are only high on one trait (negative interaction hypothesis: one is sufficient), or (3) show a level of risk that surpasses the level of rape proclivity that a simple addition of main effects would predict (positive interaction hypothesis). The results support a positive interaction account. In particular, the combination of being high on both risk factors was predictive of sexual violence. Implications of the current research and future directions are discussed.
Practice impact statement
The present research indicates that psychopathy amplifies the proclivity to sexually offend that comes with a domain-specific risk factor such as rape myth acceptance. A refined understanding of which risk factors matter and how they work together is practically relevant in particular for preventive purposes (i.e. to identify high-risk males; to tailor intervention programs to a combination of risk factors).
Universities in the United States issue “timely warnings” when a sexual assault occurs on campus. Timely warnings should make campuses safer by communicating information that allows community members to make informed personal safety decisions. Unfortunately, these warnings often undermine that safety goal by centering the survivor's actions (i.e., walking alone at night) and characteristics (i.e., wearing revealing clothes), rather than or in addition to the perpetrator's actions (i.e., followed the survivor to their house) and characteristics (i.e., wearing a red shirt). The present research investigated whether including survivor‐focused details in timely warnings causes readers to view survivors as less intelligent (i.e., why else would they walk alone at night?) and more promiscuous (i.e., why else would they wear revealing clothes?). Among three distinct samples (registered voters, US undergraduates, US based MTurk participants), we manipulated whether timely warnings included survivor‐focused details. Survivor‐focused, versus not survivor‐focused, warnings caused participants to view survivors as less intelligent (all three samples) and more promiscuous (US undergraduates and US based MTurk participants). Participants also felt safer when timely warnings focused on the survivor. Notably, feeling safer related to believing survivors were less intelligent (US based MTurk participants). We discuss how survivor‐focused timely warnings may ironically make campuses less safe by discouraging survivors from reporting crimes. Materials, data, and analysis code are available online (https://osf.io/acnqb/?view_only=4c9dd1c7abcd4a6bbd2c68e8412fcbdd).
Las agresiones sexuales son un fenómeno social, que tiene como principales víctimas a las mujeres y las niñas. El modo en que los agentes del sistema judicial, como parte de la sociedad, perciben y valoran estos delitos está influido por una serie de mitos y creencias colectivos. Este artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio de caso, que analiza el mito de la violación real a partir de las sentencias penales de la Audiencia Provincial de Madrid dictadas por delitos de agresión sexual entre 2016 y 2018. A partir de un análisis de contenido con enfoque cuantitativo, se examina en qué medida las características de los hechos juzgados coinciden con las del mito, y cómo éste puede influir en el fallo. Las conclusiones muestran que, aunque el patrón que describe el mito de la violación real no se cumple, sin embargo, algunas de sus características siguen influyendo en las decisiones judiciales.
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.
Prior research has indicated that beliefs in rape myths can influence juror decision-making in cases involving sexual assault, however, the phenomenon has been typically examined in relation to victim and defendant believability, as well as final verdicts. The current study observed mock jurors' evaluations of third-party witness evidence in alleged rape cases to determine whether these judgements were influenced by inherent rape myths. Participants (N = 196) took part in a mock juror experiment that included evidence from an eyewitness that was either in support of the defence, prosecution, or neutral. We found that males and individuals holding strong beliefs in rape myths were more likely to find defendants not-guilty. Additionally, participants endorsing rape myths were also more likely to view eyewitness evidence favourably, but only when it was in support of the defence. Our findings suggest that personal biases can influence the level of credence jurors place on case evidence, potentially through a confirmation bias.
In the year ending March 2020, an estimated 773,000 people in England and Wales were sexually assaulted. These types of crimes have lasting effects on victims' mental health, including depression, anxiety (Petrak et al., 2007), and post-traumatic stress disorder (Epstein et al., 1997). There is a large body of literature which identifies several factors associated with the likelihood of the victim reporting a sexual assault to the police, and these differences may be due to rape myth stereotypes which perpetuate the belief that rape is only 'real' under certain conditions. Less is known, however, about the effect these rape myths and stereotypes have on the investigation process itself and the subsequent police outcomes assigned to sex offences. This study aimed to address this gap, providing a profile of all RASSO (rape and serious sexual offences) committed over a three-year period in one English police force, the police outcomes of these offences, and whether any offences, suspect, or victim variables were associated with different outcomes, in particular the decision to charge or cases where victims decline to prosecute. In line with previous research, the majority of victims were female while the majority of suspects were male, and the most frequent victim-suspect relationship was acquaintance, followed by partner/ex-partner. Charge outcomes were more likely in SSOs and less in rape offences, more likely with stranger offences and less likely than offences committed by partners/ex-partners and relatives, and some non-white suspects were more likely to be charged than suspects of other ethnicities, including white suspects. Victim attrition was more likely in cases where the suspect was a partner or ex-partner and least likely where the suspect was a stranger, more likely in SSOs than in rape cases, and more likely when the victim ethnicity was 'other'. Law enforcement should be aware of the potential biases, both relating to rape myths and stereotypes and to the biased treatment of victims and suspects based on demographic characteristics, and work to eliminate these to ensure a fairer and more effective RASSO investigative process.
The present research contributes to the literature on victim blaming in cases of sexualized violence. Our findings show that even subtle cues, such as positioning in a picture, can influence blame attribution, particularly for people who are motivated to do so. In our experimental study we could show that with increasing rape myth acceptance as well as with increasing benevolent sexism, participants assigned more responsibility for later occurring sexualized violence to a woman displayed on the left-hand side compared to a woman displayed on the right-hand side of a picture.
The alcohol consumption of female rape victims is often discussed during rape trials. This has been regarded as an emblematic example of victim blaming and the failures of the legal system in relation to rape. From a feminist perspective it can be seen as an expression of the structural subordination of women in society in general. This article investigates the meanings attached to alcohol in written court decisions in Swedish rape trials (2008-2012). Rape trials are contrasted with assault trials, where the complainants are men. Thirty court decisions from each type of trial are compared, with the same number of guilty and not-guilty verdicts. Quantitative analysis reveals that alcohol consumption is mentioned more often in rape trials, where it also appears more relevant to decision-making. The complainants’ consumption is mentioned four times more often than the defendants’ consumption. In assault decisions, the mentioning of alcohol consumption is distributed roughly equally between the parties. The analysis shows how a large proportion of the alcohol references in both rape trials and assault trials can be regarded as largely irrelevant noise. The remaining alcohol references are understood in terms of five interpretative repertoires: 1) the accuracy of memory on part of witnesses; 2) explanations of seemingly irrational behaviors; 3) vulnerability; 4) getting the victim drunk; and 5) moral character. The latter three interpretive repertoires are more common in rape decisions. As a conclusion, part of the preoccupation with rape victims’ alcohol consumption can be attributed to protectionary strategies, and should thus not be regarded as victim-blaming. However, some assessments appear to build on assumptions that information about alcohol consumption is indicative to moral character that is relevant to court decisions.
This research integrated within a theoretical and empirical framework varied predictor factors pertaining to males' sexual aggression against women. The selection of predictors was guided by theorizing that sexual aggression is caused by the interaction among multiple factors, including those creating the motivation for the act, those reducing internal and external inhibitions, and those providing the opportunity for the act to occur. The predictor factors assessed were sexual arousal in response to aggression, dominance as a motive for sexual acts, hostility toward women, attitudes accepting of violence against women, psychoticism, and sexual experience. A measure assessing self-reported sexual aggression (primarily among acquaintances) in naturalistic settings served as the dependent measure. The subjects were 155 males. As expected, nearly all the predictor factors significantly related to sexual aggression. In addition, much better prediction of such aggression was achieved by a combination of these factors than by any one individually. It was also found that including interactions among these predictors yielded a regression equation that was more successful in relating to sexual aggression than an equation using an additive combination only. The relevance of these data to the causes and prediction of violence against women is discussed.
Previous research showed that reading about a rape impaired the self-esteem (SE) of women low in rape myth acceptance (RMA), whereas an opposite trend emerged for high-RMA women (Bohner, Weisbrod, Raymond, Barzvi, & Schwarz, 1993). In an extended replication, 156 female students who had not been targets of sexual violence and were either high or low in RMA participated. To prime individual versus gender-related self-aspects, participants were asked to describe themselves either as a unique individual or `as a woman'; to manipulate rape salience, they then read either a neutral text or a text about a rape. Subsequently, both individual SE and gender-related collective SE were assessed. When rape was salient, low-RMA women showed a decrease in that aspect of SE that had previously been activated, with a stronger effect overall on collective SE, whereas high-RMA women's SE again was not impaired. These findings replicate and extend previous results.
Klappentext: Der Autor untersucht die Wirkung von weit verbreiteten Überzeugungen, welche die Opfer sexueller Gewalt herabsetzen und die Täter entlasten. Er zeigt unter anderem, wie sich die Akzeptanz solcher "Vergewaltigungsmythen" in unserer Sprache niederschlägt, wie sie bei Männern zur Ausübung sexueller Gewalt beitragen kann, und dass Frauen ironischerweise von der Akzeptanz frauenfeindlicher Mythen profitieren können, indem sie eine Illusion der Unverwundbarkeit aufrecht erhalten und damit ihr Selbstwertgefühl schützen.
Men's rape myth acceptance (RMA; prejudiced beliefs that serve to exonerate the rapist and blame the victim) has been shown to correlate positively with self-reported rape proclivity (RP). To explore the causal pathway underlying this correlation, two experiments were conducted in which the relative cognitive accessibility of RMA and RP was varied. Male students were asked to report their RP in the context of a scale assessing attraction toward sexual aggression (Experiment 1) or in response to five realistic date-rape scenarios (Experiment 2), either before or after they filled out a 20-item RMA scale. In both studies, the correlation of RMA and RP was significantly greater in the after than in the before condition, suggesting that the belief in rape myths has a causal influence on men's proclivity to rape. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Describes the development and validation of 2 German-language scales measuring belief in a just world: (1) the Skala Allgemeiner Gerechte-Welt-Glaube ("General Belief in a Just World Scale")—a German version of Z. Rubin and L. A. Peplau's (1975) Just World Scale; and (2) the Skala Glauben an die gerechte Welt in spezifischen Bereichen ("Specific Beliefs in a Just World Scale"). Findings of 2 validation studies among a total of 1,331 West German adolescents and adults (16–72 yrs) show that the 2 scales correlate significantly with measures of political orientation and existential guilt. (English, French & Japanese abstracts) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Prejudice and discrimination against women has become increasingly subtle and covert (N. V. Benokraitis & J. R. Feagin, 1986). Unlike research on racism, little research about prejudice and discrimination against women has explicitly examined beliefs underlying this more modern form of sexism. Support was found for a distinction between old-fashioned and modern beliefs about women similar to results that have been presented for racism (J. B. McConahay, 1986; D. O. Sears, 1988). The former is characterized by endorsement of traditional gender roles, differential treatment of women and men, and stereotypes about lesser female competence. Like modern racism, modern sexism is characterized by the denial of continued discrimination, antagonism toward women's demands, and lack of support for policies designed to help women (for example, in education and work). Research that compares factor structures of old-fashioned and modern sexism and racism and that validates our modern sexism scale is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The authors present a theory of sexism formulated as ambivalence toward women and validate a corresponding measure, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). The ASI taps 2 positively correlated components of sexism that nevertheless represent opposite evaluative orientations toward women: sexist antipathy or
Hostile Sexism (HS) and a subjectively positive (for sexist men) orientation toward women,
Benevolent Sexism (BS). HS and BS are hypothesized to encompass 3 sources of male ambivalence: Paternalism, Gender Differentiation, and Heterosexuality. Six ASI studies on 2,250 respondents established convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Overall ASI scores predict ambivalent attitudes toward women, the HS scale correlates with negative attitudes toward and stereotypes about women, and the BS scale (for nonstudent men only) correlates with positive attitudes and stereotypes about women. A copy of the ASI is provided, with scoring instructions, as a tool for further explorations of sexist ambivalence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study was designed to (a) examine the dimensionality of rape attitudes; (b) explore the relationships between perceptions of rape and background characteristics of rapists, police, female rape crisis counselors, and citizens; and (c) determine how these groups might differ with regard to rape attitudes. Data were collected from 1,448 Ss from the aforementioned groups using measures of Ss' attitudes toward and knowledge of rape, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, and a personal data form. Results show that the groups were similar in their structures of rape attitudes. As predicted, sex, race, and marital status were the most important characteristics for predicting rape attitudes;
within the respondent groups, however, other characteristics were found to be important. Significant differences were also found among the groups in their perceptions of rape. The counselors differed from the police, citizens, and rapists in their views of rape, while citizens and police were most similar. No differences were found between the police and rapists on half of the attitudinal dimensions. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of attitudes toward rape. (82 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Even though only a minority of men may commit sexual assault, all men can have an influence on the culture and environment that allows other men to be perpetrators. The author believes that effective sexual assault prevention requires that men look at their own potential for violence as well as take a stand against the violence of other men. This chapter provides an overview of the issues involved in men taking responsibility for sexual assault prevention, suggests a philosophy and pedagogy for rape prevention, provides a developmental model for prevention programs, makes recommendations for advancing the field, and reviews promising interventions and strategies. The chapter's primary focus is the prevention of sexual assault perpetrated by young men against young women who know each other in college or high school settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Previous research has shown that information about others' rape myth acceptance (RMA) affects men's rape proclivity (Bohner, Siebler, & Schmelcher, 2006). By varying both the level (low vs. high) and format (norm vs. anchor) of such information, different explanations for this effect were investigated. After reporting their own RMA, 117 male participants either read about others' allegedly low vs. high RMA responses (norm conditions), or estimated if others' responses were higher or lower than an "arbitrary" low vs. high value (anchor conditions). Later, participants indicated their rape proclivity (RP). Results show that the level of others' RMA significantly affected participants' self-reported RP, independent of information format. Furthermore, self-reported RMA and RP were positively correlated. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Conducted a factorial or construct complexity investigation of rape myths and other rape-supportive beliefs as measured by a rape-myth acceptance scale, an acceptance of interpersonal violence scale, and an adversarial sexual beliefs scale. 450 male undergraduates completed a 118-item questionnaire containing items from each scale. Analysis showed that attitudes hypothesized to support rape were complex and multidimensional. Findings show that the tendency to disbelieve victim rape reports was associated with considering sex an important activity, using pornography, and rating one's self as sexually knowledgeable, yet simultaneously reporting little overall sex experience and relative absence of significant relationships with members of the other sex. Ss who believed male dominance over females to be justified rated sex as an important activity yet defined themselves as sexually conservative and sexually inhibited. Sexual inhibition was predictive of 3 types of rape-supportive beliefs. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article integrates the findings of a series of studies that empirically address contentions that many “normal” men possess a proclivity to rape. In these studies, an attempt was made to identify individuals with such a proclivity by asking male college students how likely they personally would be to rape if they could be assured of not being caught. On the average, about 35% indicated some likelihood of raping. To assess the validity of such reports as indicators of a proclivity to rape, the following three steps were taken: First, the literature was reviewed to identify responses that distinguished convicted rapists from the general population. The responses found to characterize rapists were greater acceptance of rape myths and relatively high sexual arousal to rape depictions. Second, the relationships between reported likelihood of raping and the responses found to characterize rapists were analyzed. The data clearly showed that in comparison with men who reported lower likelihood of raping, men who indicated higher likelihood were more similar to convicted rapists both in beliefs in rape myths and in sexual arousal to rape depictions. Third, the relationship between likelihood of raping reports and aggressive behavior was examined. It was found that higher reported likelihood of raping was associated with greater aggression against women within a laboratory setting. The overall pattern of the data is interpreted as supporting the validity of likelihood of raping ratings and consistent with contentions that many men have a proclivity to rape. Possible causes of such a propensity and directions for future research are discussed.
The RWA Scale (Altemeyer, 1981, 1988, 1996) is commonly regarded as the best measure of right-wing authoritarianism. The one-dimensional instrument assesses the covariation of three attitudinal clusters: authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism. The incongruence between the implicit conceptual dimensionality on the one hand and methodological operationalization on the other makes room for discussion about whether it would be advantageous to measure the 3 facets of RWA separately. I rely on three arguments: (1) confirmatory factor analyses showing that three-dimensional scales fit the data better than the conventional one-dimensional practice; (2) the dimensions showing a considerable interdimension discrepancy in their capability to explain validation criteria; and (3) the dimensions showing an intradimensional discrepancy which is dependent upon the research question. The argumentation is illustrated by empirical evidence from several Web-based studies among German Internet users.
In feminist sociocultural models of rape, extreme adherence to the masculine gender role is implicated in the perpetuation of sexual assault against women in that it encourages men to be dominant and aggressive, and it teaches that women are inferior to men and are sometimes worthy of victimization. Many researchers have linked components of masculine ideology to self-reports of past sexual aggression or future likelihood to rape. Thirty-nine effect sizes were examined in this meta-analysis across 11 different measures of masculine ideology to determine how strongly each index of masculine ideology was associated with sexual aggression. Although 10 of the 11 effect sizes were statistically significant, the 2 largest effects were for Malamuth's construct of hostile masculinity (e.g., Malamuth, Sockloskie, Koss, & Tanaka, 1991) and Mosher's construct of hypermasculinity (e.g., Mosher & Sirkin, 1984), both of which measure multiple components of masculine ideology including acceptance of aggression against women and negative, hostile beliefs about women. The next strongest relationships concerned measures of agreement that men are dominant over women and measures of hostility toward women. Scores on general measures of gender-role adherence, such as the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974), were not strong predictors of sexual aggression. Sociocultural models that link patriarchal masculine id eology and situational factors to sexual aggression should prove most predictive in future research.
GPOWER is a completely interactive, menu-driven program for IBM-compatible and Apple Macintosh personal computers. It performs
high-precision statistical power analyses for the most common statistical tests in behavioral research, that is,t tests,F tests, andχ
2 tests. GPOWER computes (1) power values for given sample sizes, effect sizes andα levels (post hoc power analyses); (2) sample sizes for given effect sizes,α levels, and power values (a priori power analyses); and (3)α andβ values for given sample sizes, effect sizes, andβ/α ratios (compromise power analyses). The program may be used to display graphically the relation between any two of the relevant
variables, and it offers the opportunity to compute the effect size measures from basic parameters defining the alternative
hypothesis. This article delineates reasons for the development of GPOWER and describes the program’s capabilities and handling.
Social dominance orientation (SDO), one's degree of preference for inequality among social groups, is introduced. On the basis of social dominance theory, it is shown that (a) men are more social dominance-oriented than women, (b) high-SDO people seek hierarchy-enhancing professional roles and low-SDO people seek hierarchy-attenuating roles, (c) SDO was related to beliefs in a large number of social and political ideologies that support group-based hierarchy (e.g., meritocracy and racism) and to support for policies that have implications for intergroup relations (e.g., war, civil rights, and social programs), including new policies. SDO was distinguished from interpersonal dominance, conservatism, and authoritariansim. SDO was negatively correlated with empathy, tolerance, communality, and altruism. The ramifications of SDO in social context are discussed. African and African American Studies Psychology
A refined computer paradigm for assessing sexual harassment is presented, validated, and used for testing substantive hypotheses. Male participants were given an opportunity to send sexist jokes to a computer-simulated female chat partner. In Study 1 (N = 44), the harassment measure (number of sexist jokes sent) correlated positively with self-reported harassment proclivity. Study 2 (N = 77) included a more elaborate cover story, variations of the female target’s attitude (feminist vs. traditional) and physical attractiveness (low vs. high), and additional measures for construct validation. Results showed that harassment correlated positively with self-reported harassment proclivity, hostile sexism, and male identity. Feminist targets were harassed more than traditional targets, whereas target attractiveness had no effect. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed. This is the final author version, post refereeing, of the article.
In two experiments, conducted in Germany and the U.S.A., it was found that exposure to a rape report lowered self-esteem and positive affect in women who do not accept ''rape myths'' (stereotypical beliefs which blame the victim and exonerate the rapist; Burt, 1980). Men high in rape myth acceptance (RMA) showed an increase in positive affect and self-esteem as a function of exposure to rape; men low in RMA and women high in RMA were largely unaffected. Both experiments demonstrated that these effects were specific to rape, as opposed to violence in general. These results support the feminist hypothesis that the threat of rape serves the function to exert social control over women and to sustain men's dominance. Potential cognitive mechanisms mediating the observed effects are discussed.
This article describes the "rape myth" and tests hypotheses derived from social psychological and feminist theory that acceptance of rape myths can be predicted from attitudes such as sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual conservatism, and acceptance of interpersonal violence. Personality characteristics, background characteristics, and personal exposure to rape, rape victims, and rapists are other factors used in predictions. Results from regression analysis of interview data indicate that the higher the sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and acceptance of interpersonal violence, the greater a respondent's acceptance of rape myths. In addition, younger and better educated people reveal less stereotypic, adversarial, and proviolence attitudes and less rape myth acceptance. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding and changing this cultural orientation toward sexual assault.
Throughout our history, white Americans have singled out Afro-Americans for particularly racist treatment. Of all the many immigrant nationalities that have come to these shores since the seventeenth century, Afro-Americans have consistently attracted the greatest prejudice based on their group membership and have been treated in the most categorically unequal fashion.
Presents the development of a German version of the "Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding" (Paulhus, 1994), a two-factor inventory for the measurement of socially desirable responding. The final version consists of two scales with 10 items each. The inventory measures two distinguishable components of social desirability: self-deceptive enhancement and impression management. In three cross-validation studies, both subscales showed satisfactory psychometric qualities, a clear two-factorial loading structure and good convergent and discriminant validity.
To assess their risk in a particular domain, individuals may review domain-relevant behaviors. Thinking about these behaviors renders two sources of information available: the recalled behaviors and the subjective experience of ease of recall. Two studies demonstrate that individuals' beliefs about the domain can influence which source of information they use. Women high and low in Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA) were asked to recall few (easy) or many (difficult) behaviors that may increase or decrease risk for sexual assault. Women high in RMA relied on ease of recall and reported lower risk after recalling many rather than a few risk-increasing behaviors, or a few rather than many risk-decreasing behaviors. Women low in RMA relied on the content of recall, resulting in an opposite pattern of risk judgments.
1. The Belief in a Just World.- 2. The First Experiment: The Effect of Fortuitous Reward.- 3. The Second Experiment: Observers' Reactions to the "Innocent Victim".- 4. The Third Experiment: The Martyred and Innocent Victims.- 5. Three Experiments That Assess the Effects of Sex and Educational Background of Observers, Experimenter and Observer Influence on One Another, and the Reactions of "Informed" and Nonimplicated Observers.- 6. Reactions to the Belief in a Just World Theory and Findings: The "Nay-Sayers".- 7. Condemning the Victimized.- 8. The Assignment of Blame.- 9. The Response to Victimization: Extreme Tests of the Belief in a Just World.- 10. Who Believes in a Just World: Dimension or Style.- 11. Deserving versus Justice.- References.
This research tested hypotheses that news media often report violence against women (VAW) in passive-verb format and that this leads readers to be more accepting of VAW than reports using the active voice. In Study 1, 1,501 verbs from news stories were classified as having active or passive voice. Passive voice use for both VAW (rape) and nonsexual violence (murder) was greater than for comparison verbs. Findings of a follow-up semantic differential study suggested that these verbs'negativity could account for the results. In a third study, 54 college students read mock news reports on rape, battery, robbery, and murder, rated victim harm and perpetrator responsibility after each, and completed scales of attitudes toward sexual violence. With passive voice, males, but notfemales, attributed less victim harm and perpetrator responsibility for VAW than with active voice. Both females and males showed more acceptance of VAW with passive voice use.
Selecting the "correct" number of components to retain in principal components analysis is crucial. Parallel analysis, which requires a comparison of eigenvalues from observed and random data, is a highly promising strategy for making this decision. This paper focuses on linear interpolation, which has been shown to be an accurate method of implementing parallel analysis. Specifically, this article contains tables of 95th percentile eigenvalues from random data that can be used when the sample size is between 50 and 500 and when the number of variables is between 5 and 50. An empirical example is provided illustrating linear interpolation, direct computation, and regression methods for obtaining 95th percentile eigenvalues from random data. The tables of eigenvalues given in this report will hopefully enable more researchers to use parallel analysis because interpolation is an accurate and simple method of obviating the Monte Carlo requirements of parallel analysis.
The chapter presents a social psychological approach to the study of rape and sexual assault. Two issues are at the core of this approach: identifying the critical variables that affect attributions of responsibility to victims of rape, and exploring people's subjective definitions of rape, which may differ markedly from legal definitions. Following a review of the American evidence, a series of studies conducted in two European countries is presented to address these issues.
Zusammenfassung: Es wird eine deutsche Version des «Ambivalent Sexism Inventory» (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) vorgestellt. Diese Skala dient der Erfassung ambivalenter Einstellungen gegenuber Frauen. Anders als die Konzepte des traditionellen und des modernen Sexismus trennt das Konzept des ambivalenten Sexismus zwischen negativen, offen feindseligen Einstellungen (Hostilitat) und subjektiv positiven, wohlwollenden Einstellungen (Benevolenz). Untersuchungen an 2 studentischen und 3 nichtstudentischen Stichproben mit insgesamt 773 Vpn weisen die 22-Item-Skala als reliabel und valide aus. Insbesondere bestatigt sich die Hypothese, das Hostilitat und Benevolenz zwei separate Subsysteme sexistischer Einstellungen mit gegenlaufiger subjektiver Valenz bilden. In der Diskussion werden Perspektiven der Forschung zu sexistischen Einstellungen aufgezeigt.
The relationship between male sex role orientation and the perception of rape, acceptance of rape-supportive attitudes, and self-reported likelihood of acquaintance and stranger rape was investigated. Subjects completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and scales assessing rape-supportive attitudes (Adversarial Sexual Beliefs Scale, Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence Scale, Rape Myth Acceptance Scale). Half completed the Likelihood of Raping Scale and Rape Responsibility Questionnaire after reading an acquaintance rape vignette and half completed these scales following a vignette depicting stranger rape. Results indicated that males, in general, considered stranger rape more serious than acquaintance rape. Further, across the rape-vignette and attitudinal measures, masculine sex-typed and undifferentiated males repeatedly responded in a more rape-supportive fashion than did androgynous males. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of feminine expressivity in the male personality, and the significance of reducing rape-supportive attitudes and myths in American society.
It is noted with regard to the submissive personality, it is visualized that this personality structure, observable in early adulthood and better explained by social learning than by psychoanalytic theory, is thought to be developed during adolescence from earlier training in obedience, conventionalism, and aggression, as modified by the individual's subsequent experiences. On the other hand, in context to authoritarian personality, authoritarians harbor many double standards and hypocrisies, without realizing it. This chapter illustrates a part of an investigation of general public opinion concerning a variety of social issues. Adult authoritarians tend to be highly ethnocentric and users of the “consensual validation pill” (Newcomb, 1961). They travel in tight circles of like-minded people, they often think their views are commonly held in society, that they are the “Moral Majority” or the “Silent Majority.” Certain kinds of religious training have sometimes helped produce their ethnocentrism and authoritarianism.
Research has shown that women’s level of rape myth acceptance (RMA) moderates the impact of rape salience on their self-esteem. Conceptually replicating previous studies where rape salience was operationalized by presenting newspaper articles, the present study featured a realistic expectation of meeting a rape victim. Female students (N= 82) who were either low or high in RMA expected a conversation with another woman about one of three topics: studying, the other woman’s illness (leukemia), or the other woman’s experience of having been raped. Then their collective self-esteem, individual self-esteem, and affect were assessed. In line with predictions, low-RMA women reported lower self-esteem in the rape condition than in the studying condition, whereas high-RMA participants showed an opposite effect. Although affect was generally lower in the rape condition than in the neutral condition, this effect was significantly more pronounced for low-RMA than high-RMA women. Results for the leukemia condition differed from those in the rape condition, confirming the content-specificity of the moderating effect of RMA.
(from the cover) Heavy migration patterns, the globalization of markets, and increased cross-cultural communications have made cross-cultural research a necessity in the behavioral and social sciences. In "Methods and Data Analysis for Cross-Cultural Research," the authors have developed a guide for graduate students and professionals that presents cross-cultural methodology in a practical light. The central focus is primarily on the design and analysis of quasi-experiments, which is the dominant framework for cross-cultural research. This volume presents an overview of tools of cross-cultural research and illustrates the most meaningful techniques in feature boxes, complete with sample data. (cover)
This guide will be of interest to researchers in the fields of clinical/counseling psychology, social work, research methods, sociology, ethnic studies, and social psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (cover)
Two aspects of translation were investigated: (1) factors that affect translation quality, and (2) how equivalence between source and target versions can be evaluated. The variables of language, content, and difficulty were studied through an analysis of variance design. Ninety-four bilinguals from the University of Guam, representing ten languages, translated or back-translated six essays incorporating three content areas and two levels of difficulty. The five criteria for equivalence were based on comparisons of meaning or predictions of similar responses to original or translated versions. The factors of content, difficulty, language and content-language interaction were significant, and the five equivalence criteria proved workable. Conclusions are that translation quality can be predicted, and that a functionally equivalent translation can be demonstrated when responses to the original and target versions are studied.
Zusammenfassung. Vorgestellt wird die Entwicklung einer deutschsprachigen Version des “Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding“ ( Paulhus, 1994 ), eines zweifaktoriellen Inventars zur Messung sozial erwünschter Antworttendenzen. Die aus einer empirischen Itemselektion resultierende Endfassung besteht aus zwei Skalen mit jeweils 10 Items. Sie erlauben es, zwei unterscheidbare Teilaspekte sozialer Erwünschtheit zu erfassen: Selbst- und Fremdtäuschung. In drei Kreuzvalidierungsstudien zeichneten sich beide Subskalen durch befriedigende psychometrische Kennwerte, eine klare zweifaktorielle Ladungsstruktur und gute konvergente und diskriminante Validität aus.
A series of six studies were conducted to explore the structure underlying rape myths and to develop the 45-item Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (''IRMA''). In the first study, 604 participants (mean age 18.8 years, 53% women) rated their level of agreement with 95 pretested rape myth statements. Exploratory and confir-matory multivariate analyses revealed a structure consisting of both a general myth component and seven subcomponents. This structure was replicated in a second study using a new sample and paired comparisons methodology. Study 3 details the development procedures for the IRMA and presents statistics demonstrating its good psychometric properties. Finally, Studies 4–6 support the construct validity of the IRMA. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, mea-surement, future research, and intervention. © 1999 Academic Press
Heightened temporary accessibility of men's rape myth acceptance (RMA) increases the correlation between RMA and rape proclivity (RP), suggesting a causal impact of RMA on RP (G. Bohner et al., 1998). We additionally examined previous sexual coercion as an indicator of chronic accessibility of RMA. In Study 1 (N = 107), the correlation between RMA and RP was higher: (a) if RMA was assessed before (versus after) RP; and (b) for men who had previously engaged in sexual coercion compared with men who had not. In Study 2 (N = 148), sexually coercive men were faster answering RMA items than were noncoercive men. Taken together, these findings indicate that the temporary and chronic accessibility of RMA independently affect the RMA-RP link. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.