The effects of acquaintance versus stranger rape and gender on rape myth acceptance and attitudes toward rape in college students

Author

Shellie Patscheck, Fort Lewis College
Sharon Shears, Fort Lewis College

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

14

Number

1

Page Numbers

pages 57-67

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

2008

Abstract

This original empirical experiment assessed effects of acquaintance versus stranger rape and gender on rape myth acceptance and attitudes toward rape in college students. Participants read hypothetical scenarios depicting acquaintance or stranger rape, and then completed modified versions of Burt's Rape Myth Acceptance Scale and Feild's Attitudes Toward Rape Scale. Based on previous research, we predicted that males would demonstrate more negative attitudes and would be more supportive of rape myth acceptance than females. In addition, given the relative lack of previous literature on this topic, we predicted that the two conditions for type of rape would be different, but we did not make specific directional hypotheses. Consistent with hypotheses, males were significantly more likely than females to support rape myths. However, no differences emerged for type of rape. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Subject

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

11 leaves

Language

English

Call Number

BF1 .M63 v. 14 no. 1 2008

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Recommended Citation

Patscheck, Shellie and Shears, Sharon (2008) "The effects of acquaintance versus stranger rape and gender on rape myth acceptance and attitudes toward rape in college students," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 14: No. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol14/iss1/7