Individuals utilize many cues from their environments in order to assess their status. A person's status may be conceptualized as being made up of the roles the individual plays. One role individuals may play at some point in their life is the role of victim. This study sought to determine whether or not individuals possess a veridical assessment of the likelihood of being victimized. College students (N=29) responded to a questionnaire concerning the likelihood of victimization. It was revealed that members of both genders incorrectly assessed the probability of being victimized. Males tended to deflate the probability, while females inflated the probability. This led to females reporting a significantly higher perceived likelihood of being victimized than males. U.S. Department of Justice statistics indicate that at ages 12 and up males are more likely than females to be victims of criminal activity. Although the differences between genders in victimization rate is greatest between ages 16-25, subjects in this study reported that females were more likely to be victimized. One mechanism that may account for this discrepancy is that individuals' self-schema may be manipulated in an availability heuristic manner by mass media portrayal of victims. (ABL)