Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2025-6
(Cyber)Rape Culture: Development and Validation of the Acceptance of Myths About Cyber-Sexual Violence Against Women (AMCYS) Scale in Spanish and English
Cyber-sexual violence is a social and public health concern perpetuated by (cyber)rape culture. However, there are no measures to assess attitudes toward cyber-sexual violence. In this research, we developed and validated the Acceptance of Myths About Cyber-Sexual Violence (AMCYS) Scale in Spanish and English across three studies. In Study 1, we developed items through qualitative analyses of social reactions to cyber-sexual violence victims on X, focus groups, and an expert-based content validity study. In a Study 2, a pool of items was administered to 548 Spanish social network users (Sample 1). Based on preliminary analyses, differential item functioning, and exploratory analyses, 10 items were retained. Next, in Study 3, we validated the measure using independent samples from Spain (Sample 2 = 489; Sample 3 = 467) and the United States (Sample 4 = 470; Sample 5 = 512). Results showed consistency of responses (Cronbach's α ranged from .81 and .85) and confirmed a unidimensional structure for the AMCYS. Additionally, AMCYS scores were invariant across genders and countries. Finally, we analyzed the convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity of AMCYS scores. Acceptance of Myths About Cyber-Sexual Violence correlated positively with sexism, offline myths on gender violence, and social dominance, and correlated negatively with feminism. Additionally, the AMCYS predicted victim blaming and minimization of cyber-sexual violence, and accounted for more variance in scenario responses than other related measures. This study can be useful for the prevention and intervention of cyber-sexual violence. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/03616843251330248.
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