Sexism, Masculinity, and Entitlement as Predictors of Rape Culture Support, and the Role of Empathy as a Possible Explanation

This study examines relations between rape myths (widespread myths about rape and sexual assault that negatively affect victims/survivors and support rape culture) and endorsement of ambivalent sexism, attitudes toward traditional masculinity, and trait entitlement. Participants were 111 US-based Mturk users (65 men, 44 women, 2 unidentified) who took one of two versions of an online questionnaire. Results show that higher sexism, masculinity, and entitlement correlate to higher rape myth support and lower rape victim support, with entitlement being the highest predictor, and that support for rape victims was higher when participants were shown the victim’s perspective of the assault situation. As entitlement’s opposite is empathy, and because of the significant difference in victim support between the conditions, it is possible that an emphasis on inducing empathy in future situations could protect rape survivors from ostracization and help create better survivor support systems