The role of hostile sexism in accounting for rape proclivity among men was investigated using a sample of Zimbabwean students. Participants were presented with either an acquaintance rape or a stranger rape scenario and asked to respond to five questions about the scenario designed to assess rape proclivity. As expected, a significant relationship between hostile sexism and rape proclivity was obtained in the acquaintance rape but not the stranger rape condition. These results replicate previous research and suggest that hostile sexists are more likely to express their hostility toward women in situations where such behavior might be perceived as acceptable.
Abrams, D., Viki, G. T., Masser, B., & Bohner, G. (2003). Perceptions of stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent and hostile sexism in victim blame and rape proclivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,84, 111-125.
2.
Bechhofer, L., & Parrot, A. (1991). What is acquaintance rape? In A. Parrot & L. Bechhofer (Eds.), Acquaintance rape: The hidden crime(pp. 9-25). New York: John Wiley.
3.
Bohner, G., Reinhard, M., Rutz, S., Sturm, S., Kerschbaum, B., & Effler, D. (1998). Rape myths as neutralizing cognitions: Evidence for a causal impact of anti-victim attitudes on men's self-reported likelihood of raping. European Journal of Social Psychology,28, 257-268.
4.
Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will. New York: Simon & Schuster.
5.
Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports of rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 217-230.
6.
Chiroro, P., Bohner, G., Viki, G. T., & Jarvis, C. I. (2004). Rape myth acceptance and rape proclivity: Expected dominance versus expected arousal as mediators in acquaintance rape situations. Journal of Interpersonal Violence,19, 1-16.
7.
Chiroro, P., Frodi, A., & Tsigah, A. (2002). Sexual abuse among Zimbabwean females: Nature, prevalence and victim-perpetrator relationships. Unpublished manuscript, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
8.
Costin, F. (1985). Beliefs about rape and women's social roles. Archives of Sexual Behavior,14, 319-325.
9.
Dall'Ara, E., & Maass, A. (1999). Studying sexual harassment in the laboratory: Are egalitarian women at higher risk?Sex Roles,41, 681-704.
10.
Glick, P., Diebold, J., Bailey-Werner, B., & Zhu, L. (1997). The two faces of Adam: Ambivalent sexism and polarized attitudes toward women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,23, 1323-1334.
11.
Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (1996). The ambivalent sexism inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,70, 491-512.
12.
Glick, P., Fiske, S. T., Mlandinic, A., Saiz, J. L., Abrams, D., Masser, B., et al. (2000). Beyond prejudice as a simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,79, 763-775.
13.
Glick, P., Sakalli-Ugurlu, N., Ferreira, M. C., & de Souza, M. (2002). Ambivalent sexism and attitudes towards wife abuse in Turkey and Brazil. Psychology of Women Quarterly,26, 292-297.
14.
International Planned Parenthood Federation. (1998). The facts about gender-based violence. Available at http:mirror.ippf.org/resource/gbv/ma98/1.htm
15.
Krahé, B. (1988). Victim and observer characteristics as determinants of responsibility attributions to victims of rape. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,18, 50-58.
16.
Krahé, B. (1991). Social psychological issues in the study of rape. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (pp. 279–309). New York: John Wiley.
17.
Lonsway, K. A., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (1994). Rape myths: In review. Psychology of Women Quarterly,18, 133-164.
18.
MacDonald, R. (2000). Time to talk about rape. British Medical Journal,321, 1034-1035.
19.
Malamuth, N. M. (1981). Rape proclivity among males. Journal of Social Issues,37, 138-157.
20.
Malamuth, N. M., & Check, J. V. P. (1985). The effects of aggressive pornography on beliefs in rape myths: Individual differences.Journal of Research in Personality,19, 299-320.
21.
Paulhus, D. L. (1991). Measurement and control of response bias. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.),Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes(pp. 17-59). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
22.
Pollard, P. (1992). Judgments about victims of attackers in depicted rapes: A review. British Journal of Social Psychology,31, 307-326.
23.
Quackenbush, R. L. (1989). A comparison of androgynous, masculine sex-types, and undifferentiated males on dimensions of attitudes towards rape.Journal of Research in Personality,23, 318-342.
24.
Rudman, L. A., & Glick, P. (1999). Feminized management and backlash toward agentic women: The hidden costs to women of a kinder, gentler image of middle managers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,77, 1004-1010.
25.
Scully, D., & Marolla, J. (1984). Convicted rapists' vocabulary of motive: Excuses and justifications. Social Problems,31, 530-544.
26.
Tieger, T. (1981). Self-rated likelihood of raping and the social perception of rape. Journal of Research in Personality,15, 147-158.
27.
United Nations Population Fund. (2001). Violence against women. Available at www.unfpa.org/modules/intercenter/reprights/self-sec5htm
28.
Viki, G. T., & Abrams, D. (2002). But she was unfaithful: Benevolent sexism and reactions to rape victims who violate traditional gender role expectations. Sex Roles,47, 289-293.
