Citation

Branscombe NR, Wohl MJA, Owen S, Allison JA, N'gbala A. Basic Appl. Soc. Psychchol. 2003; 25(4): 265-273.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Blame assignment and well-being among women who had been raped (N = 85) were investigated as a function of counterfactual thinking. The more upward counterfactuals (i.e., ways the rape might have been avoided) victims concurred with where some aspect of the self was mutated, the poorer their well-being. The effect of such upward counterfactual thinking on well-being was mediated by increases in self-blame. The amount of blame assigned to both the rapist and society did not mediate the effect of counterfactual thinking on well-being. These observed effects of counterfactual thinking on blame assignment are consistent with those obtained with uninvolved observers and with victims of other types of trauma. Models testing other possible relationship orderings were not supported. Implications for intervention strategies with rape victims are considered. (Abstract Adapted from Source: Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates)

Adult Female
Adult Adjustment
Adult Victim
Adult Well-Being
Victim Adjustment
Psychological Victimization Effects
Female Victim
Victim Adjustment
Emotional Adjustment
Violence Against Women
Rape Effects
Rape Victim
Sexual Assault Effects
Sexual Assault Victim
Self Blaming
02-04