Citation

Baugher SN, Elhai JD, Monroe JR, Gray MJ. J. Interpers. Violence 2010; 25(11): 2036-2053.

Affiliation

University of South Dakota, Vermillion.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260509354506

PMID

20065314

Abstract

The prediction of false rape-related beliefs (rape myth acceptance RMA.) was examined using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (Payne, Lonsway, & Fitzgerald, 1999) among a nonclinical sample of 258 male and female college students. Predictor variables included measures of attitudes toward women, gender role identity (GRI), sexual trauma history, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. Using linear regression and testing interaction effects, negative attitudes toward women significantly predicted greater RMA for individuals without a sexual trauma history. However, neither attitudes toward women nor GRI were significant predictors of RMA for individuals with a sexual trauma history. PTSD did not moderate RMA's relationship with attitudes toward women and GRI. This study has clinical implications for treatment as well as for the development of rape myth-dispelling programs.

Language: en