This investigation explored hindsight bias in college students' perceptions of sexual assault. Participants read a vignette about a man and woman who met at a party with the conditions varied across the vignettes: the alcohol use of the characters, the outcome of the vignette, and in the rape outcome, the victim's actions after the assault.…

Objective: This study examines rape myth acceptance among students attending a Historically Black College (HBCU). Participants: One hundred and thirty two students participated in the study. Methods: A survey consisting of demographic questions and the Updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA) was distributed using an anonymous paper…

Sexual assault against women is a pervasive problem on college campuses in the United States (Canan, Jozkowski, & Crawford, 2018). Interventions to prevent sexual violence have been developed to target men. However, they generally lack a specific guiding theory and show mixed results (Caver, 2013). Factors such as adherence to traditional…

This dissertation study is an examination of the relationship among rape culture, hookup culture, and social structure (i.e. regular and patterned forms of interaction over time which crystalize ideological constructs and channel behavior in specific ways). Since few efforts have examined female-on-female rape myth acceptance, I first explore…

Policies have been implemented to require sexual assault prevention programs on college campuses, but there is no existing system to determine whether or not specific programs are effective. Data were collected from college students from four universities in the state of Mississippi prior to and after the students completed an online sexual…

With sexual violence prevention programs gaining traction in secondary schools, students' attitudes toward sexual violence have begun to be measured more frequently. While these attitudes are measured as outcomes of prevention programs, students' preexisting attitudes toward sexual violence shape how prevention programs are received by the…

Background: Sexual violence (SV) prevalence remains high among U.S. college campuses; prevention strategies may benefit from addressing socially oppressive beliefs, including racism, sexism, and heterosexism that all directly link to attitudes and beliefs related to SV. Aims: The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential efficacy of a…

Background: College sexual violence (CSV) victimization is associated with mental health issues with more recent research showing that victimization also has a negative impact on academic outcomes. While many universities offer a wide range of both advocacy and supportive services for survivors that can help address the negative impacts of CSV,…

Previous studies suggest that college campuses foster a rape culture in which date rape (most commonly, rape of women) is an accepted part of campus activity (Buchwald, Fletcher, & Roth, 1993; Sanday, 2007). In focus groups at a Midwestern university, researchers asked students about rape as they experienced it or knew about it on campus. The…

Male perpetrated sexual aggression has long been recognized as a serious problem on college campuses. The purpose of this multiple regression correlation study was to assess the relationship between levels of moral development (measured by the Defining Issues Test) and the degree to which first-year college men (N = 161) ascribed to rape…

Objective: University and college health and counseling centers frequently warn female students about the "red zone"--a period early in a student's first year at college during which she may be at higher risk for unwanted sexual experiences (UWS). The authors designed this study to assess temporal risk for UWS in 1st- and 2nd-year college women.…

The authors examined the impact of a mandatory, coeducational sexual assault prevention program on college freshmen's rape myth attitudes. Data from 174 college freshmen required to attend the program indicated that, regardless of gender, the proposed sexual assault prevention program significantly decreased participants' rape myth acceptance…

Intervention sought to improve first-year college students' attitudes about rape. Used the Elaboration Likelihood Model to examine men's and women's attitude change process. Found numerous sex differences in ways men and women experienced and changed during and after intervention. Women's attitude showed more lasting change while men's was more…

Two hundred sixty-six college students from four Indiana colleges and universities completed a series of surveys to determine gender differences in attitudes toward rape victims. The instruments adapted and used included the Rubin and Peplau Just World Scale (JWS), the Burt Sex Role Stereotype Scale, the Attitudes Toward Rape Victims Scale (ATRVS)…

College students (157 men and 158 women, mostly white middle-class) rated their agreement with statements reflecting myths about male rape. A majority disagree with all the myths, most strongly with the myth that rape is not traumatic for men. Results are discussed in terms of societal attitudes. (SLD)