EXPLORING ATTITUDINAL VARIABLES PREDICTIVE OF HOW MEN PERCEIVE RAPE

86 male university students completed an assessment battery regarding their attitudes towards women and beliefs about sexual violence, as well as their own intentions to be sexually violent. They read five vignettes depicting different situations in which women were raped, and answered questions about what they thought happened in the vignettes, i.e. whether the actions depicted were rape. Results showed only one of the constructs, acceptance of sexual violence, predicted men’s ability to recognize rape scenarios, whereas hostility towards women, adversarial sexual beliefs, rape myth acceptance and sex role stereotyping were not significant after acceptance of sexual violence was accounted for. Furthermore, men’s acceptance of sexual violence mediated the relationship of their perceptions of rape vignettes and their self-reported intentions to be sexually violent. Implications for further research in sexual violence and interventions to prevent acts of aggression towards women are discussed