Effects of victim sex and sexual orientation on perceptions of rape

Bradley H. White, Sharon Kurpius

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

86 Scopus citations

Abstract

The relationship of sex, gender role attitudes, and sexual orientation to blame attributed to rape victims by 168 male and 220 female undergraduates was examined. Participants responded to a scenario that depicted the rape of a heterosexual male or female, a gay male, or a lesbian and completed the Case Reaction Questionnaire, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale - Short Form, the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale - Short Form, and the Male Role Norm Scale. Men assigned more blame to victims than did women, and they assigned greater blame to male than to female victims. Traditional gender role attitudes were positively related to victim blame and to more negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians, which in turn, was related to more blame being assigned to homosexual victims.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)191-200
Number of pages10
JournalSex Roles
Volume46
Issue number5-6
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2002

Keywords

  • homosexuality
  • perceptions
  • rape
  • victim sex

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Gender Studies
  • Social Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of victim sex and sexual orientation on perceptions of rape'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this