The effects of aggressive pornography on beliefs in rape myths: Individual differences

This experiment assessed the effects of media depictions that portray rape myths on men's beliefs in such myths. The study was conducted in two separate sessions. At the orientation session, measures of personality, motivation, experience, and aggressive tendencies were administered to 307 males. In the experimental session, 145 of these men were first exposed to one of eight audiotaped versions of a passage. One of these portrayed the myth that rape results in the victim's sexual arousal. Later, subjects listened to a second passage depicting either nonconsenting or consenting sex. Their perceptions of the second portrayal and their beliefs in rape myths were then measured. The findings provided support for the hypothesis that media depictions suggesting that rape results in the victim's arousal can contribute to men's beliefs in a similar rape myth. Moreover, analysis of the mediating role of individual differences indicated that men with relatively higher inclinations to aggress against women are particularly likely to be affected by media depictions of rape myths. It is suggested that these data may be explained best on the basis of information retrieval processes. In addition, it was found that power motives were consistently related to greater beliefs in rape myths.     

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

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

An experimental examination of alcohol consumption,alcohol expectancy,and self‐blame on willingness to report a hypothetical rape

This study experimentally examined the role of victim alcohol intoxication, and self‐blame in perceiving and reporting rape to the police using a hypothetical interactive rape scenario. Participants (N = 79) were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (mean BAC = 0.07%) or tonic water before they engaged in the scenario. Alcohol expectancy was manipulated, and participant beliefs about the beverage they thought they had consumed and their feelings of intoxication were measured. Alcohol consumption and expectancy did not affect the likelihood that the nonconsensual intercourse depicted in the scenario was perceived and would be reported as rape. Participants with higher levels of self‐blame were less likely to say they would report the hypothetical rape. Self‐blame levels were higher for participants who believed they had consumed alcohol, and were associated with increased feelings of intoxication. The implications are discussed.     

Influence of Message Sidedness,Pictures, and Need for Cognition on Beliefs and Behavior: The Terri Schiavo Case1

The Terri Schiavo case received intense national and international media coverage. The current investigation examined students' beliefs on whether or not Terri's feeding tube should have been removed, as well as attitudes and behavior. Students either received a persuasive message that came from the husband's perspective or the parents' perspective, crossed with a picture that either suggested Terri was interactive vs. one that suggested she was not. The results indicate that beliefs were altered by the perspective that students received, even after intense media coverage had presumably “hardened” attitudes. Students with low or high need for cognition were also influenced by pictures that either matched or mismatched the perspective they received.     

Factor Analysis of Physique-Stereotyped Traits

Abstract

The prevalence of rape myths contributes to victims' reluctance to report rapes. Black (n = 30) and White (n = 96) U.S. college students responded to the Rape Myth Scale (Burt, 1980) and read a scenario of an acquaintance rape; the race of the perpetrator and victim (Black or White) were varied. The respondents assessed the victim's and perpetrator's responsibility and evaluated the incident. As hypothesized, the respondents with strong beliefs in rape myths were more tolerant of the rapist and less tolerant of the victim than were those with weaker beliefs. There was limited support for the myth of the Black rapist and White victim; however, the myth of the Black rapist appeared particularly strong among the Black respondents. The women responded more negatively to the rapist and more positively to the victim than the men did. Such biases in attitudes toward rape could keep women from reporting rapes and accused rapists from receiving fair trials.     

Cognitive mediators of reactions to rape

Subjects were exposed to slides that primed different concepts associated with aggression, close personal interactions between men and women, and women as sex objects. Then, as part of an ostensibly unrelated study, they read the testimonies of several rape victims and made judgments concerning both the victim and the alleged rapist. Exposure to negative consequences of aggression apparently threatened subjects' beliefs in a just world, leading subjects to interpret rape incidents in ways that reaffirm this belief (i.e., it strengthened subjects' beliefs that the defendant should be punished, but it also caused them to attribute more responsibility for the incident to the victim). Portrayals of close personal relationships between men and women increased male subjects' beliefs that rape victims were responsible for the incident, but had the opposite effect on female subjects' beliefs. Portrayals of women as sex objects decreased male subjects' beliefs in the victim's credibility and increased their beliefs that she was responsible for the incident; however, it had the opposite effects on female subjects' judgments. Despite their effects on judgments of the rape victim, priming manipulations did not affect beliefs that the defendant should be convicted. Implications of these results for the effects of the public media on attitudes and beliefs about rape are discussed.     

Influence of Hostile Media Perception on Willingness to Engage in Discursive Activities: An Examination of Mediating Role of Media Indignation

This study examines the mediating role of media indignation, a set of negative emotional reactions to media coverage perceived to have partisan bias, between hostile media perception (HMP) and its consequences in behavioral willingness, more specifically, willingness to engage in discursive activities. It is examined together with a cognitive pathway through individuals' inference on opinion climate. Data from a web-based survey of university students (N = 696) on three controversial issues were analyzed. Findings showed that the degree of perceived partisan bias in mainstream media coverage on an issue was positively related to the intensity of media indignation and levels of incongruity between one's own opinion and perceived majority opinion. Media indignation in turn had a significant and positive effect on willingness to engage in discursive activities across all three issues, mediating the effect of HMP on behavioral willingness, whereas self-majority opinion incongruity did not. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Looks like a liar? Beliefs about native and non-native speakers' deception

We examined whether observers' beliefs about deception were affected by a speaker's language proficiency. Laypersons (N = 105) and police officers (N = 75) indicated which nonverbal and verbal behaviors were predictive of native versus non-native speakers' deception. In addition, they provided their beliefs about these speakers' interrogation experiences. Participants believed that native and non-native speakers would exhibit the same cues to deception. However, they did predict that non-native speakers would likely face several challenges during interrogations (e.g., longer interrogations and difficulties understanding the interrogator's questions). Police officers and laypersons also differed in their beliefs about cues to deception and interrogation experiences.     

Beliefs about rape and women's social roles: A Turkish replication

Various researchers on feminist issues have argued that rape against women is supported by beliefs encouraging socioeconomic domination of women and that acceptance of ‘rape myths’ foster those beliefs. If this is true, acceptance of such myths should be correlated with restrictive beliefs about women's social roles. Two previous studies, carried out in England, Israel, United States, and West Germany, confirmed that hypothesis (Costin, 1985; Costin and Schwarz, 1987). The replication of those investigations in Turkey adds further support for the hypothesis.     

Relative preference and adaptiveness of behavioral blame for observers of rape victims

Observers viewed one of nine dramatized videotaped interviews of a rape victim describing her rape. Information in the interview varied the prudence of the victim's behavior (careful, careless, no information provided) and the respectability of her character (good, bad, no information provided). Behavioral blame was significantly greater than characterological blame when the victim was careless or when no information was provided about behavior, regardless of the victim's character. When the behavior was careful, behavioral blame was equal in magnitude to characterological blame. In no case was characterological blame preferred. The adaptive value of behavioral blame for preserving a belief in a controllable and meaningful world was examined using a hierarchical multiple regression. After removing the effects of the prebeliefs of the subjects and the independent variable manipulations, only behavioral blame was significantly related to the maintenance of adaptive beliefs. Implications of the adaptive value of behavioral blame are discussed along with the importance of distinguishing observers' behavioral and characterological blaming strategies in the victimization literature.     

Beliefs About Older Workers' Learning and Development Behavior in Relation to Beliefs About Malleability of Skills,Age‐Related Decline,and Control1

This study investigated beliefs about older workers' ability and inclination to develop career‐relevant skills, concepts that have not been empirically examined previously in any depth. Two sets of distinct but conceptually related variables were examined in relation to these beliefs. First, participants' implicit theory of abilities (whether they are fixed or changeable) was investigated, and was not found to predict beliefs about older workers' ability or inclination to develop. Second, their beliefs about the age‐related decline of learning‐relevant abilities and the controllability of such decline were examined. Beliefs about the decline of such abilities significantly predicted beliefs about older workers' ability to develop and beliefs about their inclination to develop. A significant relationship was also found between beliefs about controllability of decline and beliefs about older workers' learning goal orientation. Implicit theories significantly predicted beliefs about controllability of decline. These results empirically link research on beliefs about age‐related decline of abilities with the older worker stereotype literature. The results also link literature on beliefs about controllability of decline with literature on implicit theories of skill malleability.     

Self-rated likelihood of raping and the social perception of rape

Three hundred ninety-two junior college students responded to a questionnaire concerning a depiction of a rape incident in which a photograph of the supposed victim was included. A manipulation of the attractiveness of the victim produced several findings indicating that views of rape as a sexually motivated crime mediate attributions of blame to the rape victim. Gender differences in attitudes toward rape were also prevalent throughout the factor structure of beliefs which was found. Male subjects also rated their own likelihood of raping, “if they could be certain they would not be caught”. The results of a discriminant analysis indicated that high scorers on this self-rating showed a pattern of disinhibitory beliefs about the normality and acceptability of rape, and the seductiveness of rape victims. High self-rated likelihood of raping among males also correlated negatively with scores on the femininity scale of the BSRI.     

Competent Enough,But Would You Vote for Her? Gender Stereotypes and Media Influences on Perceptions of Women Politicians

Though research has demonstrated that media coverage of men and women politicians differ, fewer studies have examined the dual influence of gender stereotypes and types of media coverage in influencing public perceptions of women politicians. Study 1 (N = 329) examined how pre‐existing attitudes toward women leaders and valence of media message impacted perceptions of a woman senator and evaluations of the media source. Study 2 (N = 246) explored how media focus on a woman politician's personality or ability impacted perceptions of her warmth/likability and competence. Results suggest the media has particular influence on judgments of women politicians' likability (the “competent but cold” effect), providing evidence that women politicians need to be vigilant in monitoring their media depictions.     

Dimensions of Masculinity: Relations to Date Rape Supportive Attitudes and Sexual Aggression in Dating Situations

Sexual assault in general and date rape in particular are major issues for practitioners, educators, and researchers in counseling. This study sought to extend and refine existing research on the links between masculine gender roles and date rape by exploring 3 masculinity-related constructs that, until recently, have received relatively little attention in the context of rape research: masculinity ideology, attitudes toward feminism, and homophobia. In general, combinations of masculinity-related constructs were found to predict self-reported acceptance or perpetration of sexually coercive behaviors. Specifically, multiple regression analyses revealed that attitudes toward feminism and various, specific dimensions of masculinity ideology (vs. a global assessment, as in previous research) predicted unique variance in several types of date rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs: the Facade/Counterdependence dimension of masculinity ideology also predicted unique variance in self-reported history of sexual coercion. Implications for prevention, education, and future research are discussed.     

Managing job seekers' organizational image beliefs: the role of media richness and media credibility

In this article, the authors assessed job seekers' organizational image beliefs before and after they experienced 3 recruitment media. The authors examined whether perceptions of media richness and credibility were related to improvements in the correspondence between job seekers' image beliefs and firms' projected images. Both media richness and credibility perceptions were associated with correspondence between job seekers' image beliefs and firms' projected images. However, results revealed that richness and credibility perceptions were likely to enhance job seekers' initial beliefs about firms' images when their beliefs were positive but did not diminish job seekers' beliefs about firms' images when their initial impressions were too positive.     

They Saw a Triple Lutz: Bias and Its Perception in American and Russian Newspaper Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Figure Skating Scandal1

We explored bias and its perception in newspaper reports of the 2002 Olympics figure skating controversy. American and Russian articles were examined for their perceptions of the Canadian and Russian pairs' performances, directionality of the Russian and American media and publics' biases, and media awareness of those biases. Reporters' accounts varied as a function of country of affiliation and indicated a one‐sided acknowledgment of media and public bias. The American media acknowledged a pro‐Canadian bias in their reporting; there was no self‐bias acknowledgment in the Russian press. Country of affiliation produced one‐sided coverage of this event, and even the American media's awareness of self‐biases did not ensure bias‐free reporting. These findings are discussed amid respective countries' cultural and political contexts.     

The Effects of Viewing R-rated Movie Scenes That Objectify Women on Perceptions of Date Rape

The contribution of sexualized images of women in the media to rape and beliefs that support rape has been the subject of considerable research. The present study tested the effects of viewing scenes from R-rated popular films on perceptions of female responsibility for and enjoyment of either a date rape or a stranger rape, using a sample of participants that was both ethnically and socioeconomically diverse. Participants viewed either nonviolent scenes that objectified and degraded women sexually or scenes from an animation festival. In a supposedly unrelated second experiment, participants then read a fictitious magazine account of a date rape or a stranger rape. Results indicated a significant three-way interaction among gender, video condition, and rape scenario on perceptions of the rape, such that males who viewed the sexually objectifying video felt that the victim in the date-rape condition experienced pleasure and “got what she wanted.”     

Attributions of Responsibility for Rape: Differences Across Familiarity of Situation,Gender, and Acceptance of Rape Myths1

In 2004 in Australia, controversy over the alleged involvement of elite footballers in incidents of sexual assault highlighted a tendency to denigrate the victims and excuse the perpetrators. To investigate whether rape myths were prevalent enough to explain this public response, 102 university students were surveyed for their beliefs and determinations of blame in rape situations. Although there was a gender difference in the rates of rape myth acceptance, with males more likely to accept these beliefs, these were not evident in decisions about victim blame or perpetrator blame. However, males and high rape myth acceptors were significantly more likely to minimize the seriousness of the rape situation. These effects increased with familiarity depicted in the situation.