Citation

Linhares LV, Torres ARR, de Lucena AKV, de Napolis NSC. Trends Psychol. 2023; 31(1): 1-15.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Brazilian Society of Psychology, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s43076-021-00134-7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Gender and skin color are recognized factors that influence social judgments. We approach this problem by proposing that the color of the victim's skin and the sex of the observers will influence the blaming of a woman for violence she has suffered, just as the belief in a just world (BJW) will be responsible for predicting greater blaming of the victim. In Study 1 (N = 152), after manipulating the victim's skin color, we identified that black victims were more blamed than whites and that men were blaming more than women. Study 2 (N = 234) investigated the hypothesis that BJW acts as a moderator of the relationship between the victim's skin color, the participant's gender, and the victim's blame. Although the hypothetical triple interaction was not significant, the paired comparisons showed that among participants with high adherence to BJW, male participants placed more blame than female participants, and this blame was even greater in the condition in which the victim was black. These results are discussed in light of the importance of the studies on blaming women victims of sexual violence, taking into consideration a set of characteristics of the victim as well as more ideological aspects, such as the BJW.

Language: en

Keywords

Belief in a just world; Blaming the victim; Creencia en un mundo justo; Culpabilización de la Víctima; Violence against women; Violencia contra la mujer.