College students (N=18) wrote scripts about "typical" rape and "typical" seduction. Scripts were coded on 20 dimensions. Results showed that rape and seduction scripts were very different. Most subjects described blitz rape in which woman outdoors was attacked by male stranger. Seductions described were usually indoors and…

Tested whether individuals possessing traditional sex role attitudes could have their rape-related attitudes influenced by a psychoeducational intervention that had been effective with less traditional individuals. Results revealed that subjects who received intervention adhered less to rape myths and expressed less rape-supportive attitudes than…

Investigates how African American male and female college students differ in their attitudes concerning rape. Two hundred and ten college students completed a 12-item questionnaire designed to measure their views toward this issue. Differences are discussed in the context of sexism and rape myths. Strategies for changing students' attitudes toward…

Performed meta-analyses on nine studies of subjects' (n=434) penile responsivity to rape stimuli. Mean effect size for raw score data suggested that most sexual aggressors against women exhibit slightly more rape arousal than control or comparison subjects, whereas mean effect size for rape index (rape arousal:consenting sexual arousal) data…

This research explores the emotional reactions of a rarely studied group of women who work closely with survivors of sexual violence: rape victim advocates. Women who assist rape victims in obtaining medical, criminal justice, and mental health services were interviewed about their experiences, and qualitative analysis was used to delineate the…

Traditional psychological theories are designed, in large part, to explain the behavior of white males, viewing female behavior as deviant or deficient, or ignoring it altogether. While special undergraduate topics courses, such as those on the psychology of women, address this problem in part, many institutions cannot afford to offer them. In…

Administered the Sexual Experiences Survey to a national sample of women and men enrolled in 32 institutions of higher education. Women's reports of experiencing and men's reports of perpetrating rape, attempted rape, sexual coercion, and sexual contact were obtained. The findings support published assertions of high rates of rape and other forms…

Assault victims exhibit a variety of emotional responses including fear, depression, and sexual impairment. For most assault victims, these responses decline over time. This study examined the pattern of post-assault responses during the first 12 weeks and compared the pattern of responses following rape with non-sexual criminal assault reactions.…

Male sexual aggression toward women is a serious social problem, particularly on college campuses. In this study, college men's sexually aggressive behavior and rape myth acceptance were examined using conformity to 11 masculine norms and 2 variables previously linked to sexual aggression: problem drinking and athletic involvement. Results…

College women who did (n=33) and did not (n=56) label their sexual assault experience as rape provided written descriptions of their sexual assaults. From these descriptions we identified eight different sexual assault situations. Women who labeled their experience as rape were most likely to have been assaulted forcefully by an acquaintance,…

Investigated the role of gender, gender role identity, rape myth acceptance, and initial resistance in assigning blame in the case of acquaintance rape, and studied the perceived avoidability of the assault for 355 female and 179 male college students. The gender differences in responses are discussed. (SLD)

Using police reports and court testimonies, examined women's resistance strategies to rape. Results indicated that 85 percent of the women who resisted with physical force were responding to the offender's initiated violence. Women reacting with physical aggression to violent attack were more likely to avoid rape than were nonresisting women. (RJM)

Investigated the social adjustment of rape victims during one year following their assaults. Victims exhibited disruption in overall social adjustment for the first few months. By four months after the rape, most of the subscales had stabilized at levels similar to the nonvictims'. Work adjustment was affected through eight months following the…

Examined differences in hypothetical apperceptive fantasies of committing forcible rape, which are held by male subjects, as compared with the hypothetical apperceptive fantasies of being forcibly raped, held by the female subjects. Developed a critical analysis of social and cross-cultural variables affecting rape. (Author/ABL)

Examined influence of assault and participant characteristics on medical students' attitudes toward rape and nonsexual-assault victims. First- and third-year students read narratives of three types of assault patients. Female students revealed more favorable attitudes toward victims than did males. Implications for service delivery to rape victims…