Citation

Adolfsson K, Strömwall LA. Psychol. Crime Law 2017; 23(6): 527-552.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/1068316X.2017.1290236

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Are victim and perpetrator blame attributions affected more by situational-specific variables or observers' basic motives and personal beliefs? In three experiments, varying the scenario setting, the effects of victim and participant age, participant gender, sympathy for the victim, trust in the justice system, belief in a just world and acceptance of rape myths were investigated. In total, 877 Swedish adolescents and adults read scenarios reflecting common acquaintance rape situations. Victim age (18 or 31) was manipulated, but did not affect attributed blame. Effects of participant age and gender varied markedly across the three experiments. Sympathy for the victim and acceptance of rape myths were stronger predictors than belief in a just world. Consistently, blame attributions were found to be more affected by personal beliefs than situational-specific variables.

Language: en

Keywords

just world beliefs; Rape; rape myths; sympathy; victim blame