The study explores how country-level gender equality and neoliberal ideology affect rape myth acceptance (RMA). It hypothesizes that gender equality reduces, while neoliberalism increases RMA. Using data from 22,978 respondents across 23 European countries, the study finds an interactional effect: in less gender-equal countries, stronger neoliberalism increases RMA, whereas in more gender-equal countries, it reduces RMA. This is attributed to different interpretations of individuality. Additionally, both gender equality and neoliberalism influence the impact of individual factors like gender, age, and life satisfaction on RMA. The study suggests further research should focus on contextual influences on RMA.
AndersonK. B.CooperH.OkamuraL. (1997). Individual differences and attitudes toward rape: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(3), 295–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167297233008
2.
AosvedA. C.LongP. J. (2006). Co-occurrence of rape myth acceptance, sexism, racism, homophobia, ageism, classism, and religious intolerance. Sex Roles, 55(7-8), 481–492.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9101-4
3.
BanyardV. L. (2008). Measurement and correlates of prosocial bystander behavior: The case of interpersonal violence. Violence and Victims, 23(1), 83–97. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.23.1.83
4.
BarcaL. A. (2018). The agency factor: Neoliberal configurations of risk in news discourse on the Steubenville, Ohio rape case. Critical Discourse Studies, 15(3), 265–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2017.1408476
5.
BarnR.PowersR. A. (2021). Rape myth acceptance in contemporary times: A comparative study of university students in India and the United Kingdom. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(7–8), 3514–3535. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260518775750
6.
BarnettN. J.FelidH. S. (1977). Sex differences in university students’ attitudes toward rape. Journal of College Student Personnel, 18(2), 93–96.
7.
BartlingC. A.EisenmanR. (1993). Sexual harassment proclivities in men and women. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 31(3), 189–192. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03337321
8.
Bay-ChengL. Y. (2015). The agency line: A neoliberal metric for appraising young women’s sexuality. Sex Roles, 73(7), 279–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0452-6
9.
Bay-ChengL. Y.FitzC. C.AlizagaN. M.ZuckerA. N. (2015). Tracking homo oeconomicus: Development of the neoliberal beliefs inventory. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 3(1), Article e4837. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v3i1.366
10.
BellS. T.KuriloffP. J.LottesI. (1994). Understanding attributions of blame in stranger rape and date rape situations: An examination of gender, race, identification, and students’ social perceptions of rape victims 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(19), 1719–1734. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1994.tb01571.x
11.
BendixenM.HenriksenM.NøstdahlR. K. (2014). Attitudes toward rape and attribution of responsibility to rape victims in a Norwegian community sample. Nordic Psychology, 66(3), 168–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2014.931813
12.
BrownmillerS. (1975). Against our will: Men, women, and rape. Fawcett Columbine.
BurnS. M. (2009). A situational model of sexual assault prevention through bystander intervention. Sex Roles, 60(11-12), 779–792. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9581-5
ChapleauK. M.OswaldD. L.RussellB. L. (2007). How ambivalent sexism toward women and men support rape myth acceptance. Sex Roles, 57(1), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9196-2
17.
CohnE. S.DupuisE. C.BrownT. M. (2009). In the eye of the beholder: Do behavior and character affect victim and perpetrator responsibility for acquaintance rape?Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(7), 1513–1535. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00493.x
18.
CostinF.SchwarzN. (1987). Beliefs about rape and women’s social roles: A four-nation study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2(1), 46–56. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F088626087002001003
19.
CowanG. (2000). Women’s hostility toward women and rape and sexual harassment myths. Violence Against Women, 6(3), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778010022181822
CrallP.GoodfriendW. (2016). She asked for it: Statistics and predictors of rape myth acceptance. Modern Psychological Studies, 22(1), 15–27.
22.
EarnshawV. A.PitpitanE. V.ChaudoirS. R. (2011). Intended responses to rape as functions of attitudes, attributions of fault, and emotions. Sex Roles, 64(5), 382–393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9920-1
23.
ElliottS. (2014). “Who’s to blame?” constructing the responsible sexual agent in neoliberal sex education. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 11(3), 211–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-014-0158-5
24.
European Commission, Brussels. (2020). Eurobarometer 85.3 (2016). GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA6695 Data file Version 2.0.0, https://doi.org/10.4232/1.13519
GregorA.GrzebalskaW. (2016). Thoughts on the contested relationship between neoliberalism and feminism. In KovátsE. (Ed.), Solidarity in struggle. Feminist perspectives on neoliberalism in east-central Europe (pp. 11–20). Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/budapest/12796.pdf.
27.
HalmanL. (1996). Individualism in individualized society?International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 37(3–4), 195–214. https://doi.org/10.1163/002071596X00019
28.
HarringtonC. (2022). Neoliberal Sexual Violence Politics: Toxic Masculinity and #MeToo.Palgrave Macmillan.
29.
HayesR. M.LorenzK.BellK. A. (2013). Victim blaming others: Rape myth acceptance and the just world belief. Feminist Criminology, 8(3), 202–220. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1557085113484788
30.
HeavenP. C.ConnorsJ.PretoriusA. (1998). Victim characteristics and attribution of rape blame in Australia and South Africa. The Journal of Social Psychology, 138(1), 131–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224549809600363
31.
JohnsonB. E.KuckD. L.SchanderP. R. (1997). Rape myth acceptance and sociodemographic characteristics: A multidimensional analysis. Sex Roles, 36(11), 693–707. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025671021697
32.
Karimi-MalekabadiF.Falahatpishe BaboliM. (2022). Qeirat values and victim blaming in Iran: The mediating effect of culture-specific gender roles. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(3–4), 2485–2509. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F08862605221101184
33.
KatzJ.GravelinC. R.O’BrienC. (2018). Neoliberal beliefs and perceptions of unintended adolescent pregnancy after consensual or forced sex. Sex Roles, 78(11), 810–821. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0842-z
34.
LernerM. J. (1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. Plenum.
35.
LockeB. D.MahalikJ. R. (2005). Examining masculinity norms, problem drinking, and athletic involvement as predictors of sexual aggression in college men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(3), 279–283. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.3.279
36.
LonswayK. A.CortinaL. M.MagleyV. J. (2008). Sexual harassment mythology: Definition, conceptualization, and measurement. Sex Roles, 58(9–10), 599–615. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9367-1
LonswayK. A.FitzgeraldL. F. (1995). Attitudinal antecedents of rape myth acceptance: A theoretical and empirical reexamination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(4), 704–711. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.4.704
39.
ManoussakiK.VeitchF. (2015). Ambivalent sexism, right wing authoritarianism and rape myth acceptance in Scotland. International Journal of Gender & Women’s Studies, 3(1), 88–100. https://doi.org/10.15640/ijgws.v3n1p9
40.
McMahonS.FarmerG. L. (2011). An updated measure for assessing subtle rape myths. Social Work Research, 35(2), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/35.2.71
41.
McMahonS. (2010). Rape myth beliefs and bystander attitudes among incoming college students. Journal of American College Health, 59(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2010.483715
42.
MilesiP.SüssenbachP.BohnerG.MegíasJ. L. (2020). The interplay of modern myths about sexual aggression and moral foundations in the blaming of rape victims. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(1), 111–123. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2622
NagelB.MatsuoH.McIntyreK. P.MorrisonN. (2005). Attitudes toward victims of rape: Effects of gender, race, religion, and social class. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(6), 725–737. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260505276072
45.
NelsonG.PrilleltenskyI. (2010). Community Psychology: In Pursuit of Liberation and Well-being. Macmillan Publishing Company, Collier Macmillan Publishers.
46.
NiemiL.YoungL. (2016). When and why we see victims as responsible: The impact of ideology on attitudes toward victims. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42(9), 1227–1242. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0146167216653933
47.
NyúlB.FerenczyD. (2015). A nemi erőszak mítoszok és elfogadottságuk Magyarországon [OTDK dolgozat (XXXII. Országos Tudományos Diákköri Konferencia)].
48.
NyúlB.FerenczyD.KendeA.SzabóM. (2018). A nemierőszak-mítoszok elfogadása skála (NEMES) magyar adaptációja. Alkalmazott Pszichológia, 18(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.17627/ALKPSZICH.2018.1.115
49.
NyúlB.KendeA. (2021). Rape myth acceptance as a relevant psychological construct in a gender-unequal context: The Hungarian adaptation of the updated Illinois rape myths acceptance scale. Current Psychology, 42(4), 3098–3111.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01631-9
PayneD. L.LonswayK. A.FitzgeraldL. F. (1999). Rape myth acceptance: Exploration of its structure and its measurement using theIllinois rape myth acceptance scale. Journal of Research in Personality, 33(1), 27–68. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1998.2238
52.
PeczkowskaN. M. (2015). Rape myth acceptance among residents of the United States and Poland [PhD Thesis]. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
53.
PedersenS. H.StrömwallL. A. (2013). Victim blame, sexism and just-world beliefs: A cross-cultural comparison. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 20(6), 932–941. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2013.770715
StephensT.KamimuraA.YamawakiN.BhattacharyaH.MoW.BirkholzR.MakomenawA.OlsonL. M. (2016). Rape myth acceptance among college students in the United States, Japan, and India. Sage Open, 6(4), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2158244016675015
56.
StringerR. (2014). Knowing the Victim. Feminism, agency and victim politics in neoliberal times. Routledge.
57.
StrömwallL. A.AlfredssonH.LandströmS. (2013). Rape victim and perpetrator blame and the just world hypothesis: The influence of victim gender and age. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 19(2), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2012.683455
58.
SuarezE.GadallaT. M. (2010). Stop blaming the victim: A meta-analysis on rape myths. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(11), 2010–2035. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260509354503
VikiG. T.AbramsD. (2002). But she was unfaithful: Benevolent sexism and reactions to rape victims who violate traditional gender role expectations. Sex Roles, 47(5–6), 289–293. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021342912248
VirághE. A. (2025). Neoliberalism, authoritarian neoliberalism, and #metoo: Discursive constructions of sexual harassment and victimhood in Hungary. Szociológiai Szemle, 35(3), 140–166. https://doi.org/10.51624/SzocSzemle.18775
63.
WalbyS. (2020). Varieties of gender regimes. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 27(3), 414–431. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxaa018
64.
WardA. T. (2020). Ideology and Rape Culture: Examining the Influence of Neoliberalism on Rape Myth Acceptance [PhD Thesis]. University of Cincinnati.
65.
WardC. (1995). Attitudes toward rape: Feminist and social psychological perspectives. Sage.
YamawakiN.TschanzB. T. (2005). Rape perception differences between Japanese and American college students: On the mediating influence of gender role traditionality. Sex Roles, 52(5), 379–392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-2680-7
