The Reality and Myth of Rape: Implications for theCriminal Justice System

This article sets out to evaluate the researchevidence for rape myths and the extent to which theyare causally related to rape proclivity; negativeattitudes towards rape victims; and the reporting ofsexual assault incidents to the police. In reviewingthis literature, we provide an evaluation of theimpact of this research on the criminal justice systemand possible future developments. We argue that thisresearch, while failing to provide conclusive evidenceof a causal relationship, has nevertheless played animportant part in shaping more sympathetic approachestowards rape victims in the criminal justice system.However, we also argue that the current research fallsshort of the level of proof required for it to beadmitted as evidence in criminal trials. We considera number of alternative uses including AmicusCuriae briefs, and the training of juries and judgesprior to hearing rape cases.     

Bernard J. Verkamp,Senses of Mystery: Religious and Non-Religous

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Condom Use on Spring-Break Vacation: The Influence of Intentions,Prior Use,and Context1

Triandis' theory of interpersonal behavior was used to analyze factors related to condom use among Canadian spring-break vacationers in Daytona Beach, Florida, who had engaged in coital activity with existing relationship partners (N= 46) or casual partners (N= 121). Intention to use condoms explained 36% of the variance in condom use with relationship partners, but only 10% with new partners. An additional 43% was explained by prior condom use and conditions facilitating condom use. Conditions facilitating condom use had the strongest influence on condom use, with new partners followed by prior condom use and intentions. The latter two variables exerted both direct and indirect influences on condom use.     

Ego-involved persistence: When free-choice behavior is not intrinsically motivated

Experiments on factors affecting intrinsic motivation have generally inferred intrinsic motivation from subjects' engagement in a target activity during a “free-choice period” when external contingencies are no longer operative. However, internally controlling regulation is a form of internal motivation that is very different from intrinsic motivation and can underlie free-choice-period activity. This paper presents three experiments concerned with differentiating internally controlling from intrinsically motivated persistence in situations where ego-involved vs. task-involved subjects had received positive vs. nonconfirming (or no) performance feedback. The first experiment showed that ego-involved (relative to task-involved) subjects displayed less free-choice persistence when they received positive feedback, whereas the second experiment showed that ego-involved (relative to task-involved) subjects displayed more free-choice persistence when they received nonconfirming feedback. In both experiments, however, it was shown that ego-involved subjects did not report the expected affective correlates of intrinsic motivation—namely, interest/enjoyment and perceived choice—whereas task-involved subjects did. In the third experiment, as predicted, ego-involved subjects tended to show less free-choice persistence than task-involved subjects when they received positive performance feedback but greater free-choice persistence when they received no performance feedback. The problem of distinguishing intrinsically motivated activity from internally controlled behavior is discussed.     

Boys will be boys (and girls will be girls): The attribution of gender role stereotypes in a gaming situation

This study tested one hypothesis concerning the attribution of gender role stereotypes about competitive behavior and three hypotheses concerning differences in attribution of sex between male and female subjects. The study used a Prisoner's Dilemma Game setting to expose subjects to one of three conditions (competitive, cooperative, or tit-for-tat) to measure attribution of sex to an unknown confederate. A chi-square analysis revealed significant differences in the attribution of sex to the anonymous confederate between the competitive and the combined cooperative and tit-for-tat groups. In the competitive condition, subjects were more prone to think that the anonymous confederate was male than were subjects in the cooperative and tit-for-tat condition. This finding is consistent with the gender role stereotype that generally associates competitive behavior with masculinity and not with femininity. Post hoc chi-squares also revealed no difference between male and female subjects in the attribution of sex in any of the three conditions. Implications of these findings are discussed.