Penalties for Rape as a Function of Victim Provocativeness, Damage, and Resistance

Subjects responded to one of four cases of rape which they read by indicating how many years in prison the rapist should serve as a penalty. In Experiment 1, the cases presented the victim as either provocatively dressed or nonprovocatively dressed, and either pregnant as a result of the rape or not pregnant. Older subjects gave significantly higher penalties when the victim was pregnant, while younger subjects did not. In Experiment 2, the cases presented the victims as being either raped or robbed and as resisting or not resisting her attacker. Male subjects gave significantly lower penalties when the victim did not resist, while female subjecis gave higher penalties when the victim did not resist-this interaction being significant for both crimes.