Turkish University Students' Attitudes Toward Rape

In this study we investigated the effects of gender and gender roles upon attitudes toward rape among 432 female and 368 male college students in Turkey whose mean age was 22.08 (SD = 2.09). The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and measures of attributions toward date rape and stranger rape, and myths scenarios were used. All 3 scenarios were given to each participant. It was hypothesized that women would attribute less responsibility than men would to the rape victim, more responsibility to the assailant, and describe the assault as a serious crime. Women and men who have masculine gender roles were expected to attribute more responsibility to the rape victim and less responsibility to the assailant and show higher tolerance of the assault than would those in the other classified gender roles. Both men and women were expected to attribute more responsibility to the victim of a date rape and less responsibility to the date rape assailant and show higher tolerance of date rape than stranger rape. Results indicated that gender, but not gender role, was an important factor in Turkish college students' attitudes toward date rape. Women and men shared a similar point of view on stranger rape, but date rape was considered less serious than stranger rape. Gender role was not a significant factor in attitudes toward rape.     

Gender role and attitudes toward rape in male and female college students

This study examined the relationship between college students' gender roles and attitudes toward rape. Subjects were 145 male and 374 female college students with a mean age of 20.1 years. The institution has a 12.5% minority population. Subjects received a questionnaire packet containing the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), an acquaintance or stranger rape scenario, a questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward the scenario, the short version of the Attitudes Towards Women Scale (AWS), the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS), and the Attitudes Toward Rape questionnaire (ATR). It was hypothesized that participants classified as masculine according to the BSRI would believe in more rape myths, hold more pro-rape attitudes, and believe in more traditional gender roles than would those who were classified as feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. A gender by gender role interaction on the AWS revealed that feminine and androgynous men were exceptions to the pattern that men had significantly less egalitarian views than women. Responses to the scenario questionnaire suggested that women and men view acquaintance rape differently, and that men may experience more attitude change as a result of a rape awareness workshop than women.     

Fraternity Membership, the Display of Degrading Sexual Images of Women, and Rape Myth Acceptance

The present study was conducted to learn more about the association between fraternity membership and attitudes and behaviors associated with sexual aggression against women. A male experimenter took digital pictures of all of the images of women displayed in the rooms of 30 fraternity men and 30 non-fraternity men on a residential, small, liberal arts college campus. The men also filled out a rape myth acceptance scale. A total of 91 images were found in the form of posters, “pin-ups,” advertisements, or computer screen savers. It was found that fraternity men had significantly more images of women displayed in their rooms and that the images were rated significantly more degrading than those in the rooms of non-fraternity men. Fraternity men were found to have significantly higher scores on a rape supportive attitude scale (RSA). RSA scores were positively related to the amount of degradation in the images found in men's rooms. The possible purposes and consequences of the display of degrading sexual images are discussed.     

Rape Perceptions as a Function of Gender-Role Traditionality and Victim-Perpetrator Association

Perceptions of stranger, acquaintance, date, andmarital rape scenarios and their relation to observers'gender-role traditionality were examined. PrimarilyCaucasian (81%)male and female undergraduates reported their reactions to one of four rapescenarios, attitudes toward men's and women's genderroles, and tendency toward a socially desirable responsestyle. The marital rape scenario was characterized less often as rape and considered less violent,less of a violation of the victim's rights and lesspsychologically damaging to the victim as compared tothe other scenarios. Observers holding less traditional gender-role stereotypes perceived rapescenarios overall as more serious and were less likelyto blame the victim. Also, an exploratory regressionanalysis revealed that gender did not add significantly to the prediction of rape perceptions beyondthe contribution of gender-role beliefs.     

Victim-Blaming Tendency Toward People With AIDS Among College Students

Abstract

The victim-blaming tendency toward people with AIDS was examined in relation to gender, fraternity–sorority affiliation, classification (freshmen vs. others), religion (Catholic vs. others), and academic major (business college vs. others) in a survey of 818 students at a midwestern state university in the United States. Desired social distance from gay men and lesbians, the intervening variable in these relations, significantly mediated the indirect effect of fraternity–sorority affiliation, classification, and gender on the victim-blaming tendency. Gender and desired social distance were found to be significant direct determinants of the victim-blaming tendency toward people with AIDS. The study suggests that attitudes toward gay men and lesbians must change if attitudes toward people with AIDS are to change.     

I feel like I know you: sharing negative attitudes of others promotes feelings of familiarity

Holding similar negative-versus positive-attitudes toward a third party has been shown to predict increased closeness to a stranger. Here, the authors examined whether this effect is mediated by the heightened feelings of familiarity engendered by shared negative attitudes. In Study 1, participants who shared with a (bogus) stranger a negative attitude of a professor subsequently reported knowing more about the stranger than those who shared a positive attitude, but only when they did not feel strongly about the attitude. In Study 2, a familiarity manipulation produced high levels of closeness among participants who believed they had a lot of information about a stranger. Among those who believed they knew little about the stranger, closeness was facilitated by sharing a weakly held, negative attitude of a professor. Discussion considers the relevance of these findings to the interpersonal attraction literature.     

Effects of Victim Gender and Sexuality on Attributions of Blame to Rape Victims

Previous research suggests that homosexual male rape victims receive more blame than heterosexual victims. In this study, we examined effects of victim gender and sexuality on judgments of victims of stranger rape by a male perpetrator. Participants read a rape vignette in which victim gender and sexuality varied, and then rated the amount of blame they attributed to the perpetrator and victim. Victims were attributed more blame if their sexual orientation suggested potential attraction to the perpetrator: gay men and heterosexual women received more blame than did lesbians and heterosexual men. Further, homophobic attitudes toward gay male victims increased the blame attributed to them: perpetrators of rape of gay men were seen as least responsible for their actions, and the character of gay male victims was seen to be a stronger contributory factor than it was for other victims.     

The Impact of Contemplated Exposure to a Survivor of Rape on Attitudes toward Rape1

Male and female college students were asked to rate the truth of myths about rape either before or after contemplating how they would react if a close friend or relative told them she had been raped. It was expected that such contemplation would decrease endorsement of rape myths, by increasing sympathy for victims and reducing the tendency to blame victims for sexual assault. Typically, studies have found that women are less accepting of rape myths and more sympathetic to rape victims than men. A reason for this may be that women have thought about rape more and are more likely to have experienced sexual assault or to be acquainted with a survivor. Based on the above findings, it was hypothesized that contemplating exposure to a rape survivor would be particularly beneficial to men's attitudes. Results contradicted the hypothesis and showed that contemplating exposure increased rejection of rape myths for women but slightly increased men's endorsements. In contrast, men and women who were actually acquainted with a rape survivor rejected rape myths more strongly than those who did not claim acquaintance.     

AN ACQUAINTANCE RAPE PREVENTION PROGRAM

The present study investigated the effects of an acquaintance-rape prevention program on college students' attitudes toward rape and attitudes toward women, perceptions of acquaintance-rape scenarios, and rape empathy. Participants were led to believe that they were participating in two separate experiments in order to decrease demand characteristics. Results indicated that intervention group men and women became more empathic toward the victim than the control group, postintervention. Within the intervention group, men changed more in their attitudes toward women postintervention than did women. In addition to positive attitude change, results with the date-rape scenarios suggested that intervention-group men became more certain of their definitions of rape situations postintervention. Prior to the intervention, women were generally more certain of their definitions than were men, with intervention-group men approximating women's responses postintervention.     

Attitudes toward rape: Gender and ethnic differences across Asian and Caucasian college students

Previous research has demonstrated that males have a greater tendency to hold erroneous beliefs about rape than females. However, limited cross-cultural studies, particularly of Asians, have been done in this area. The present investigation examined attitudes toward rape victims and belief in rape myths across 302 Asian and Caucasian college students. Subjects were recruited from two college campuses in Orange County, California, and were from predominantly middle-income backgrounds. None of the Caucasian students and a minority (36.25%) of the Asian subjects identified their particular ethnic group(s) of origin. Of the Asian subjects who specified their ethnicity, the majority were of Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander descent. Results indicated significant differences across ethnicity and gender. Asians were more likely to endorse negative attitudes toward rape victims and greater belief in rape myths than their Caucasian counterparts; males endorsed greater negativity toward rape victims and more acceptance of rape myths than did females. Asian subjects who endorsed greater acculturation (Western affiliation) differed significantly from low acculturated subjects on all dependent variables. Results are discussed in regard to cross-cultural differences and gender. Culturally sensitive rape awareness outreach targeting potentially high risk groups, such as Asian college students, is encouraged.This study was in part supported through an Affirmative Action Grant awarded to the first author by the Affirmative Action Faculty Development Program, California State University, Fullerton. Findings of the study were previously presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, August 1994, Los Angeles, California. The authors wish to thank the undergraduate and graduate research assistants who served as experimenters.     

“Blessed Is He Who Has Not Made Me a Woman”: Ambivalent Sexism and Jewish Religiosity

This study explored the relationships between Jewish religiosity and ambivalent sexist attitudes toward men and women. Drawing on ambivalent sexism theory and Judaism’s views of gender relations, it was hypothesized that religiosity would be positively related to benevolent sexism and benevolent attitudes toward men. The hypotheses were tested in a convenience sample of 854 Israeli Jews (471 women, 355 men) who completed measures of ambivalent sexism, ambivalence toward men and religiosity. Controlling for the effects of age, education and marital status, religiosity predicted more benevolent sexist attitudes for both men and women. The findings also revealed negative associations between Jewish religiosity and hostile attitudes, mainly among men. That is, more religious men were less likely to express hostile attitudes toward men and women. These findings attest to the complex relationships between religiosity and sexist attitudes, and underscore the importance of investigating the impact of diverse religious traditions on gender attitudes.     

Attitudes Toward Rape Among African American Male and Female College Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate how African American male and female college students differ in their attitudes concerning rape. Two-hundred and ten college students completed a 12-item questionnaire designed to measure their views toward this issue. A 2-group multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed statistically significant differences between African American men and women, with men being more accepting of stereotypes and myths about rape. These differences are discussed in the context of sexism and rape myths. Strategies for changing students' attitudes toward rape are proposed.     

Men's heterosocial skill and attitudes toward women as predictors of verbal sexual coercion and forceful rape

This study assessed whether men's heterosocial skill and attitudes toward women are related to verbal and physical sexual coercion in a nonincarcerated population. We predicted that heterosocially skilled men would be more likely than unskilled men to have engaged in verbal sexual coercion, whereas unskilled men would be more likely than skilled men to have engaged in physical sexual coercion (i.e., forceful rape). We expected an interaction, with this pattern holding only for men who accepted traditional gender roles or male sexual dominance; men who did not accept these attitudes were expected to be unlikely to have engaged in either verbal or physical coercion. To identify sexually coercive men, we administered questionnaires to 1152 male introductory psychology students. They completed anonymous self-report measures of (a) heterosocial skill, (b) attitudes toward women, and (c) involvement with verbal and physical sexual coercion. Results showed that heterosocially skilled men were more likely than unskilled men to have engaged in verbal sexual coercion, but heterosocial skill was unrelated to forceful rape. Men who accepted traditional gender roles or male sexual dominance were more likely than other men to have engaged in both verbal sexual coercion and forceful rape. There were no interactions. Theoretical issues and treatment implications are discussed.The authors wish to thank Gayla Goolsby, Trudi Zaplac, Diane Collinge, Shelley Davis, Gina Benedicto, and DiAnne Poehl. This paper is based on the second author's Senior Honors Thesis, done as part of the Texas A&M University Undergraduate Fellows Program, which provided funding.     

The impact of college experience on political and social attitudes

In the last two decades a considerable volume of research has focused on how the college experience affects students. The purpose of the research reported here was to investigate to what extent students (predominantly Caucasian) at a highly selective university on the East coast changed their political and social attitudes during college. In particular, the influences of religious background, gender, membership in a fraternity or sorority, and time in college on attitudes were examined. Results indicated that students as seniors scored higher on measures of liberalism, social conscience, homosexuality tolerance and feminist attitudes and lower on male-dominant attitudes than they did as first year students. Given the lack of previous studies of change in attitudes toward homosexuality in college and the current political debate about issues relating to sexual orientation, an important finding was the substantial increase in tolerance of homosexuality by all subgroups. Results are discussed with respect to the special characteristics and potential influence of Ivy League students.Research for this paper was funded in part by grants from the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation and the National Institute of Justice (Grant NIJ 89-IJ-CX-0048, Assessment and Evaluation of SMART and Related Programs, Robert Boruch, PI). Opinions expressed in it are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent official views of the University of Pennsylvania or NIJ.     

Hispanic and majority student attitudes toward forcible date rape as a function of differences in attitudes toward women

Less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape are related to more traditional attitudes toward women, as measured by the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (G. J. Fischer, “College Student Attitudes Toward Forcible Date Rape. I. Cognitive Predictors,” Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1986, 15, 457–466). Does this relation reflect more traditional or more negative attitudes toward women? If the former, then an ethnic minority having still more traditional attitudes toward women (than the nonethnic majority), also should be less rejecting of forcible date rape. This hypothesis was assessed by surveying attitudes of bicultural and bilingual Hispanic, other self-reported Hispanics, and nonethnic majority college students from a large introductory sociology class in a large Southwestern university. Results showed that Hispanics, overall, (1) had more traditional attitudes toward women than nonethnic majority and (2) as hypothesized, had less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape. However, these effects were not a simple function of ethnicity, at least not for males. For example, bicultural and bilingual Hispanic males were least likely to blame the male for the forcible date rape, but were no less rejecting of such behavior than other Hispanic males and had no more traditional attitudes toward women than other Hispanic or majority males. Bicultural and bilingual Hispanic females, on the other hand, were most likely to blame the male, had the least rejecting attitudes toward date rape, and had the most traditional attitudes toward women. one interpretation is that exposure to less restrictive sex roles of the majority culture is a liberating influence on Hispanic females, but not on Hispanic males who, perhaps, see more liberal attitudes toward women as having no or even negative payoff. Differences found between Hispanics who are bicultural and bilingual and other self-reported Hispanics suggest that these groups should not be combined, and that a research sample needs to be defined more specifically than “Hispanic.”     

The relationship between sex role attitudes and attitudes supporting marital violence

This study explored the relationship between attitudes toward sex roles and attitudes endorsing the legitimacy of physical force by men in the marital relationship. Approximately 40% of this sample of 300 college undergraduates were black, allowing black-white comparisons on these variables as well. The results support a sociocultural analysis of spouse abuse. A moderately strong positive relationship was found between traditional sex role preferences and attitudes supporting the use of physical force. In addition, men were found to hold more traditional sex role attitudes than women and were more likely to endorse the use of physical force in the marital relationship. Whites were found to be more traditional in their sex role attitudes than blacks, but no racial differences were found with regard to attitudes endorsing physical force. Further analysis revealed that traditional sex role attitudes were the most powerful predictor of attitudes supporting marital violence, while race and sex played a relatively unimportant role. Implications for spouse-abuse prevention program are discussed.     

The Neutralization and Denial of Sexual Violence in College Party Subcultures

Heavy drinking and sexual assault are prevalent among college students who attend parties hosted by fraternities and athletic teams, and accusations often produce victim blaming and disbelief. We provide a symbolic interactionist explanation of how subculturally held sentiments shape students’ perceptions. We find that fraternity or athletic team party attendees (but not those who drink in other settings) are more likely than abstainers to hold stereotypical definitions of rape, rate sexual assault as less likely, and are less likely to acknowledge an assault as rape. This study offers a potential mechanism—meanings transmitted and sustained within subcultures—for explaining the denial of rape among students who attend parties hosted by fraternities or athletic teams.     

STRANGER AND ACQUAINTANCE RAPE

Most published research on the victim–offender relationship has been based on small samples that consisted mainly of women who were raped by nonintimate and nonromantic acquaintances, who viewed their experience as rape, and/or who were seeking treatment. In the present study, 489 rape victims were located among a national sample of 3,187 female college students by a self-report survey that avoided reliance on help-seekers. Two sets of comparisons were performed. First, the experiences reported by victims of stranger rape ( n = 52) were compared with those of victims of acquaintance rape ( n = 416). Then, the experiences of women assaulted by different types of acquaintances were compared including nonromantic acquaintances ( n = 122), casual dates ( n = 103), steady dates ( n = 147), and spouses or other family members ( n = 44). Rapes by acquaintances, compared with strangers, were more likely to involve a single offender and multiple episodes, were less likely to be seen as rape or to be revealed to anyone, and were similar in terms of the victim's resistance. In general, acquaintance rapes were rated as less violent than stranger rapes. The exception was rapes by husbands or other family members which were rated equally violent to stranger rapes but were much less likely to occur in a context of drinking or other drug use. In spite of these different crime characteristics, virtually no differences were found among any of the groups in their levels of psychological symptoms. A significant feature of these data is that they have tapped the experiences of unreported and unacknowledged rape victims, a group that is potentially much larger than the group of identified victims.     

The Impact of College Education on Rape Myth Acceptance,Alcohol Expectancies,and Bystander Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of education on rape myth acceptance, alcohol expectancies, and bystander attitudes. A sample of 126 community members and college students who had consumed alcohol within the past 90 days were administered surveys. College experience was unrelated to rape myth acceptance, alcohol expectancies, and bystander intentions. In line with previous research, two rape myth subscales were inversely related to bystander attitudes. In regard to alcohol expectancies and bystander attitudes, only one subscale was marginally significant. Ancillary analysis indicated that rape myth acceptance varied as a function of age, with older individuals less likely to support rape myths.