To assess joint influence of sexual provocativeness and prior sexual assault on perceptions of rape victims, males and females read rape reports presented in a factorial design that completely crossed levels of these variables. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated main effects for the independent variables but no interactions. Observers attributed more blame to victims whose preassault behavior was more provocative and who had a prior rape history. Relative to males, females were generally more empathic toward victims. Observers' perceptions were discussed in terms of attributions of causal and moral responsibility for assault.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Best, J. B. , & Demmin, H. S. (1982). Victim's provocativeness and victim's attractiveness as determinants of blame in rape.Psychological Reports, 31, 255-258.
2.
Calhoun, L. G. , Selby, J. W., & Warring, L. J. (1976). Social perceptions of the victim's casual role in rape: An exploratory examination of four factors.Human Relations, 29, 517-526.
3.
Cann, A. , Calhoun, L. G., & Selby, J. W. (1979). Attributing responsibility to the victim of rape: Influence of information regarding past sexual experience.Human Relations, 32, 57-67.
4.
Ellis, E. M. , Atkeson, B. M., & Calhoun, K. S. (1982). An examination of differences between multiple- and single-incident victims of sexual assault.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 221-224.
5.
Kanekar, S. , & Kolsawalla, M. B. (1980). Responsibility of a rape victim in relation to her respectability, attractiveness, and provocativeness.Journal of Social Psychology, 112, 153-154.
6.
Kanekar, S. , & Kolsawalla, M. B. (1981). Factors affecting responsibility attributed to a rape victim.Journal of Social Psychology, 113, 285-286.
7.
Kanekar, S. , Pinto, N.J.P., & Mazumdar, D. (1985). Causal and moral responsibility of victims of rape and robbery.Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 15, 622-637.
8.
Krulewitz, J. E. (1982). Reactions to rape victims: Effects of rape circumstances, victim's emotional response, and sex of helper.Journal of Counseling Psychology, 29, 645-654.
9.
Krulewitz, J. E. , & Nash, J. E. (1979). Effects of rape victim resistance, assault outcome, and sex of observer on attributions about rape.Journal of Personality, 47, 557-574.
10.
Macrae, C. N. , & Shepherd, J. W. (1989). Sex differences in the perceptions of rape victims.Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 4, 278-288.
11.
Miller, J. , Moeller, D., Kaufman, A., Divasto, P., Pathak, D., & Christy, J. (1978). Recidivism among sex assault victims.American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 1103-1104.
12.
Scroggs, J. R. (1976). Penalties for rape as a function of victim provocativeness, damage, and resistance.Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 6, 360-368.
13.
Thornton, B. , Ryckman, R. M., & Robbins, M. A. (1982). The relationships of observer characteristics to beliefs in the causal responsibility of victims.Human Relations, 35, 321-330.
14.
Winer, R. L. , & Rinehart, N. (1986). Psychological causality in attribution of responsibility for rape.Sex Roles, 14, 369-382.
