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Prior Sexual Relationship, Gender and Sexual Attitudes Affect the Believability of a Hypothetical Sexual Assault Vignette

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Abstract

This study investigated the effects of contextual and individual difference features on perceptions of believability of a hypothetical sexual assault victim’s report. Undergraduates read a vignette describing an alleged sexual assault in which the victim was either poor or wealthy and rated the woman’s believability. In both socioeconomic status conditions, participants then learned that the victim and perpetrator had a previous, consensual sexual relationship and consumed alcohol at the time of the assault and provided a second and third believability rating. Believability ratings decreased as additional information was provided. Men, participants with greater rape myth acceptance, and men with lower levels of rape empathy rated the victim’s believability as significantly lower than women, participants with less rape myth acceptance, and men with higher rape empathy. Based on study findings, we provide recommendations for college campuses and law enforcement groups working with sexual assault victims.

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Acknowledgements

Jenny K. Rinehart was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (T-32MH018834, awarded to Nicholas S. Ialongo) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (T-32DA007292-21S1, awarded to Debra C. Furr-Holden).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Texas State University, Health Professions Building, Suite 150A, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Erica E. Nason

  2. University of California, Irvine, Newport Beach, USA

    Jenny K. Rinehart

  3. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA

    Elizabeth A. Yeater

  4. University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, USA

    Rory T. Newlands

  5. VA San Diego Healthcare System, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, USA

    Jennifer N. Crawford

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  1. Erica E. Nason
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  2. Jenny K. Rinehart
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Correspondence to Erica E. Nason.

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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board at the University of New Mexico and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Nason, E.E., Rinehart, J.K., Yeater, E.A. et al. Prior Sexual Relationship, Gender and Sexual Attitudes Affect the Believability of a Hypothetical Sexual Assault Vignette. Gend. Issues 36, 319–338 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-018-9227-z

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