Counterfactuals and roles: mock victims' and perpetrators' accounts of judicial cases

Three studies assessed the influence of differential perspective taking on counterfactual thinking. In Study 1 male and female subjects were asked to play the role of, respectively, perpetrator and victim in a rape case, and to give their own account of the event. Analysis of spontaneous counterfactuals showed a main tendency to focus on actions more than inactions and on controllable more than uncontrollable elements. However, this tendency was moderated by the subject's role and the counterfactual target. While victims focused on perpetrators' controllable actions more than on their own, perpetrators did not focus on victims' controllable actions more than on their own; they focused on victims' controllable inactions instead. In Study 2, where males and females were asked to reverse their roles, and where prompted as well as spontaneous counterfactuals were analysed, the same results were found. Further evidence for generality of these results was found in Study 3, where an assault case instead of a rape case was taken into account. These findings support the view that counterfactual mutability may be influenced by role‐based motivations, as well as by role‐based expectations regarding how active a party is supposed to have been in an event. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Exploration of Rapists' Motivations as Illustrated by Their Crime Scene Actions: Is the Gender of the Victim an Influential Factor?

An aim of this paper was to examine if the rapist's motivations of anger and power as inferred from rape crime scene behaviours differentiates between rape victim genders. In addition, it was sought to analyse the resistance strategies employed by rape victims to investigate whether gender influences victim–offender behavioural interactions. A sample of 24 female and 12 male rape victims aged from 13 to 39 years were analysed. The data were extracted from the US National Crime Survey, which contained 12 reported cases of male rape. It was hypothesised that the theme of power would be evident from the rapists' behaviour as illustrated by the crime scene actions and victim–offender interaction. Smallest Space Analysis, a multi‐dimensional scaling technique, was employed to identify the themes present in the perpetration of rape. The crime scene actions illustrated several distinctions relating to the theme of power present in the offender's motives irrespective of the victim's gender. An additional finding was that victim resistance strategies differentiated between male and female rape victims. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In the Eye of the Beholder: Do Behavior and Character Affect Victim and Perpetrator Responsibility for Acquaintance Rape?1

Acquaintance rape attributions of responsibility were investigated. In Study 1, participants viewed videotapes that varied the female victim's resistance (verbal, physical, verbal/physical) and the reaction of the perpetrator (anger, no reaction) or a control videotape. The victim was held less responsible and the perpetrator was held more responsible when the victim resisted. In Study 2, participants viewed videotapes that manipulated victim and perpetrator reputation. Victims were held more responsible when they had a bad reputation; perpetrators were held more responsible when the victim had a good reputation or the perpetrator had a bad reputation. Hostile sexism predicted victim responsibility in both studies; rape myth predicted victim and perpetrator responsibility in Study 2. Implications for the legal system are discussed.     

Schema‐driven information processing in judgements about rape

Two studies addressed the impact of rape schemata on judgements about rape cases. In Study 1, 286 undergraduate students rated perpetrator and victim blame for five rape scenarios and completed the Perceived Causes of Rape Scale. Most blame was assigned to victims of an ex‐partner rape, followed by acquaintance and stranger rape. Least blame was assigned to perpetrators of ex‐partner rapes, followed by acquaintance and stranger rapes. Female precipitation beliefs increased victim blame and reduced perpetrator blame. In Study 2, 158 students rated rape scenarios that varied in victim perpetrator relationship and coercive strategy and completed a measure of Female Precipitation Beliefs. Half expected to be held accountable for their judgements. The perpetrator was held less liable and the victim blamed more when the perpetrator exploited the victim's incapacitated state versus using physical force. Accountability instruction reduced the impact of female precipitation beliefs on perceived perpetrator liability and victim blame. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Counterfactual intensity

Counterfactual intensity, the strength with which counterfactuals are experienced, influenced the magnitude of affective and preparative reactions. Intensity influenced reactions when counterfactual numbers were held constant for samples of participants' actual experiences (Study 1) and contributed significantly to responses over counterfactual numbers (Study 2) and reaction times (Study 3) after performing laboratory tasks. This was found when participants spontaneously generated counterfactuals (Study 2), and when participants responded to counterfactual statements (Study 3). As upward counterfactuals became intense, so did greater preparation and worse moods; as downward counterfactuals became intense, so did better moods and lesser preparation. Intense moods also conversely influenced the intensity of counterfactuals (Study 3). Conceptual and methodological implications and possibilities for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Acquaintance versus stranger rape: Testing the ambiguity reduction hypothesis

After reading a vignette about a hypothetical rape incident, 240 undergraduate students of the University of Bombay recommended imprisonment for the rapist and attributed fault to the rape victim. The experiment had a 2 (subject's sex) 2 (schoolteacher versus callgirl victim) × 2 (acquainted versus stranger rapist) × 2 (victim's physical resistance versus no physical resistance) factorial design with 15 subjects per cell. As predicted, attributed victim's fault was greater and recommended rapist's imprisonment was shorter with male rather than female subjects, with the callgirl rather than schoolteacher victim, and with no physical resistance rather than with physical resistance. Greater fault was also attributed to the acquainted rather than unacquainted victim. These main effects and the interaction effects were discussed primarily in light of the proposition that acquaintance rape is viewed less seriously than stranger rape because of ambiguity regarding the acquainted victim's consent.     

Rapists’ talk: Linguistic strategies to control the victim∗

Abstract

Rape is a crime of violence and force. The stereotype of the male rapist's attack is that he attains power and control over the victim through strategies based on physical force. The present study shows that not only do rapists use physically based strategies, but also they use a second set of strategies based on language. The sample consists of 115 female adult, adolescent, and child rape victims. Open‐ended interviews were used and information was collected on what conversation occurred. In analyzing what rapists reportedly said, 11 major themes emerged: threats, orders, confidence lines, personal inquiries of the victim, personal revelations by the rapist, obscene names and racial epithets, inquiries about the victim's sexual “enjoyment,” soft‐sell departures, sexual put downs, possession of women, and taking property from another male. What these themes have in common is that they constitute a strategy for exercising power over the victim, either before, during, or after the rape.     

Decisions about a crime: downward and upward counterfactuals

Deciding about people’s responsibility, intentions and need for punishment is particularly hard and it may be often associated with counterfactual thinking, which refers to the creation of mental alternatives to actual events. Ninety-three participants were asked to generate downward or upward counterfactuals regarding a given criminal event and, then, to give judgments about defendant’s predictability, responsibility, intentionality and punishment. Results showed that downward counterfactuals had led people to judge the event less intentional, the defendant less responsible and, therefore, to give him a less severe punishment (vice versa for upward). The relationship between counterfactuals and intentionality judgments was partially mediated by the perceived defendant’s predictability of the negative outcomes. Finally, downward counterfactuals were linked to a greater focus on the context (external factors), whereas upward counterfactuals on the defendant/victim’s behaviours (internal factors). Findings were discussed considering both theoretical decision-making models and applications on the judicial field.     

Victim and Observer Characteristics as Determinants of Responsibility Attributions to Victims of Rape1

Two field studies were conducted to investigate the influence of observer and victim characteristics on attributions of victim and assailant responsibility in a rape case. In the first study, male and female subjects completed a measure of rape myth acceptance and were presented with a rape account after which they were asked to attribute responsibility to victim and assailant. In the second study, a new sample was asked to attribute responsibility to victim and assailant on the basis of one of two rape accounts in which victim's pre-rape behavior was manipulated. Results showed that both rape myth acceptance and victims' pre-rape behavior influenced the degree of responsibility attributed to victims and assailants. No significant effects of subject gender were found. A more complex conceptualization is suggested of the link between observer and victim characteristics in social reactions to and evaluations of rape victims.     

Counterfactual thinking and regulatory focus: implications for action versus inaction and sufficiency versus necessity

Counterfactual thinking is associated with regulatory focus in a way that explains previous empirical incongruities, such as whether additive counterfactuals (mutations of inactions) occur more or less frequently than subtractive counterfactuals (mutations of actions). In Experiment 1, regulatory focus moderated this pattern, in that additive counterfactuals were activated by promotion failure, whereas subtractive counterfactuals were activated by prevention failure. In Experiment 2, additive counterfactuals evoked a promotion focus and expressed causal sufficiency, whereas subtractive counterfactuals evoked a prevention focus and expressed causal necessity. In Experiment 3, dejection activated additive counterfactuals, whereas agitation activated subtractive counterfactuals. These findings illuminate the interconnections among counterfactual thinking, motivation, and goals.     

Is understanding regret dependent on developments in counterfactual thinking?

Children's understanding of counterfactual emotions such as regret and relief develops relatively late compared to their ability to imagine counterfactual worlds. We tested whether a late development in counterfactual thinking: understanding counterfactuals as possibilities, underpinned children's understanding of regret. Thirty 5‐ and 6‐year‐olds completed tasks assessing counterfactual thinking and understanding regret. Performance on the counterfactual task was better than that on the regret task. We suggest that thinking about counterfactuals as possibilities is a necessary but not sufficient cognitive development in children's understanding of regret. We discuss how other developments in counterfactual thinking may underpin children's emotional understanding.     

Effects of Ingroup Bias and Gender Role Violations on Acquaintance Rape Attributions

Two studies of ethnically diverse US college students from northern California examined whether ingroup bias and gender norm violations influence acquaintance rape attributions (Study 1, N?=?118; Study 2, N?=?140). Participants read vignettes depicting acquaintance rape and completed questionnaires. Victims were part of participants’ ingroup or outgroup. Study 1 manipulated the victim’s sexual history (chaste or promiscuous). Study 2 manipulated the victim’s alcohol use (sober or intoxicated). Ingroup victims were perceived more positively than outgroup victims if the victims were promiscuous or intoxicated. More guilt was attributed to rapists of ingroup victims than outgroup victims if the victims were promiscuous or intoxicated. Findings are examined in relation to ingroup bias and gender norm violations.     

The Acquaintance Predicament of a Rape Victim1

The acquaintance predicament of a rape victim was examined in six experiments with between-subjects designs with samples drawn from the undergraduate student population of the University of Bombay. The experiments used rape vignettes for the manipulation of all independent variables except subject's sex and were done in three pairs such that each pair had the same independent variables and first dependent measure, namely, recommended years of imprisonment for the rapist. The second dependent measure was attributed victim's fault in the first experiment and perceived likelihood of rape in the second experiment of each pair. The first pair of experiments had a 2 (subject's sex) × 2 (acquainted vs. unacquainted rapist) × 3 (rapist's status: manager, stenotypist, or watchman) × 2 (complaint vs. no complaint by victim) design, with the rape victim being described as a stenotypist. The second pair of experiments differed from the first pair in only one respect, with victim's marital status (married vs. divorced victim) replacing the independent variable of complaint of the first pair. The third pair of experiments had a 2 (subject's sex) × 2 (physically hurt vs. not hurt victim) × 5 (rapist's relationship with victim: husband, fiance, friend, acquaintance, or stranger) design. Female subjects, as compared to male subjects, recommended longer imprisonment for the rapist, attributed less fault to the victim, and perceived greater likelihood of rape. The victim was attributed less fault in case of stranger rape versus acquaintance rape and also less fault in the complaint versus the no complaint condition. Longer imprisonment was recommended for the rapist when the victim was physically hurt rather than not hurt.     

The effects of counterfactual defences on social judgements

Research on counterfactuals (‘If only…’) has seldom considered the effects of counterfactual communication, especially in a defensive context. In three studies, we investigated the effects of counterfactual defences employed by politicians. We assumed that self‐focused upward counterfactuals (‘If only I…, the outcome would have been better’) are a form of concession, other‐focused upward counterfactuals (‘If only they…, the outcome would have been better’) are a form of excuse, and self‐focused downward counterfactuals (‘If only I…, the outcome would have been worse’) are a form of justification. In Study 1, a counterfactual defence led to a more positive evaluation of the politician than a corresponding factual defence. Of the two types of defence, the counterfactual defence reduced the extent to which the politician was held responsible for the past event and was perceived as more convincing. In Study 2, counterfactual excuse and counterfactual justification were equally effective and led to a more positive evaluation of the politician than counterfactual concession. In Study 3, the higher effectiveness of counterfactual justification was independent from perceived ideological similarity with the politician, supporting the strength of this defence. These results show that counterfactual defences provide subtle communication strategies that effectively influence social judgements. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reopening the study of extreme social behaviors: Obedience to authority within an immersive video environment

In this study, we used a paradigm similar to the one used by Milgram in his classic obedience study, using an immersive video environment. We manipulated the victim's degree of visibility and his ethnicity. When the victim was hidden, the level of obedience we obtained was similar to Milgram's. Replicating previous findings observed in real environments, participants were more obedient when the victim was hidden than when he was visible, and the more obedient participants negated their own responsibility by projecting responsibility on both the victim and the experimenter. State‐anger and right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) emerged as two significant predictors of the level of obedience. Illustrating an underlying process of racial‐dehumanization, participants reported less anxiety and distress when the victim was a North African than when the victim was of the same racial origin as the participant. These results underscore the usefulness of using immersive environments when studying extreme social behaviors. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Person Memory and Memorability: A Round Robin Analysis

Four studies examined the effect of counterfactual thinking on reactions to rape victims and rape perpetrators. One determinant of counterfactual thinking is whether the event is preceded by an unusual or a usual occurrence. In Study 1, the behavior of a rape victim was varied in this regard, whereas, in Study 2, the behavior of a rape perpetrator was varied. In Study 3, the usualness and/or unusualness of both victim and perpetrator behaviors were varied within the same scenario. Results indicated that varying these antecedent conditions produced differential reactions to a variety of outcome measures, such as perceived avoidability, responsibility, regret, blame, and recommended prison sentence. In Study 4, these effects were found to generalize to a situation involving another proposed counterfactual antecedent: action versus inaction. Implications for counterfactual thinking and reactions to rape are discussed.     

Judgments of marital rape as a function of honor culture,masculine reputation threat,and observer gender: A cross-cultural comparison between Turkey,Germany, and the UK

Previous research has shown that there is higher tolerance of violence against women in cultures with salient gender-specific honor norms, especially when the violence occurs in intimate relationships and in response to threat to male honor. The present cross-cultural study (N = 398) extended these findings to sexual aggression (i.e., marital rape) by comparing participants from a culture that emphasizes honor (Turkey) and participants from cultures without strong honor traditions (Germany and Britain). Turkish participants blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator more than did German and British participants. In all cultural groups, participants blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator more when the husband's reputation was threatened than in the absence of such threat, and in all cultural groups, men blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator more than women. Yet, the effect of masculine reputation threat and this pattern of gender differences were somewhat more pronounced among Turkish than German or British participants. Results exploring the predictive role of honor norms at the individual level beyond rape myth acceptance and traditional gender role attitudes revealed that honor norms were the primary predictor of rape perceptions and blame attributions in Turkey (an honor culture), but not in Germany and Britain (dignity cultures) where rape myth acceptance was the strongest predictor. These results provide insights into the cultural factors influencing marital rape judgments in ways that may undermine victim's well-being and fair handling of rape cases, and highlight the domains most urgently in need of potential intervention.     

I feel you feel what I feel: Perceived perspective‐taking promotes victims' conciliatory attitudes because of inferred emotions in the offender

In the context of bullying in a nursing workplace, we test the argument that an offender's perspective‐taking promotes victim conciliation, mediated by perceived perspective‐taking, that is, the extent to which the victim perceives the offender as taking their perspective. Perceived perspective‐taking facilitates the attribution of moral emotions (remorse, etc.) to the offender, thereby promoting conciliatory victim responses. However, perceived perspective‐taking would be qualified by the extent to which the severity of consequences expressed in the offender's perspective‐taking matches or surpasses the severity for the victim. In Studies 1 and 2 (Ns = 141 and 122, respectively), victims indicated greater trust and/or forgiveness when the offender had taken the victim's perspective. This was sequentially mediated by perceived perspective‐taking and victim's inference that the offender had felt moral emotions. As predicted, in Study 2 (but not Study 1), severity of consequences qualified victims' perceived perspective‐taking. Study 3 (N = 138) examined three potential mechanisms for the moderation by severity. Victims attributed greater perspective‐taking to the offender when the consequences were less severe than voiced by the offender, suggesting victims' appreciation of the offender's generous appraisal. Attributions of perspective‐taking and of moral emotions to the offender may play an important role in reconciliation processes. Key outcome: To the extent that victims perceive the offender as taking their perspective (perceived perspective‐taking), they infer that the offender feels more moral emotions, prompting victims to be more conciliatory. Perceived perspective‐taking benefits from the offender over‐stating the consequences to the victim.     

Something in the way he moves? Interpersonal judgments of acquaintance rapists

Two studies explored variations in women's appraisals of acquaintance rapists. In Study 1, an acquaintance rapist was evaluated the least harshly when he was physically dominating but sexually dysfunctional. In Study 2, this softening of the rapist's perceived qualities was most evident when he attributed his sexual failure to a need for his victim's sexual consent. Acquaintance rape is therefore an interpersonal crime that can yield varied judgments of its perpetrators. In particular, some women may give more benefit of doubt to sexually violent men by relying on an “adversary transformation” narrative in which the victim has tamed the rapist and harnessed his strength, passion, and other desirable qualities for herself.