RAPE AND PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS - ASSIGNING RESPONSIBILITY TO VICTIMS

• NCJ Number: 46112
• Journal: JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY Volume: 45 Issue: 4 Dated: (DECEMBER 1977) Pages: 554-563
• Author(s): C SELIGMAN; J BRICKMAN; D KOULACK
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: Delta Defense, Inc.
• Sale Source: Princeton University
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A RAPE VICTIM'S PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND OTHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE VICTIM'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF THE RAPE IS EXAMINED.

Abstract

THE SUBJECTS WERE 48 MALE AND 48 FEMALE STUDENTS RECRUITED BY A FEMALE EXPERIMENTER WHILE EACH WAS SITTING ALONG IN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY. SUBJECTS WERE ASKED TO READ A NEWSPAPER STORY OUTLINING A CRIME THAT HAD BEEN COMMITED AGAINST A FEMALE VICTIM. ONE OF FOUR PREVIOUSLY SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS ACCOMPANIED EACH ARTICLE. BASED ON PREVIOUS PILOT TESTING WITH A SIMILAR STUDENT POPULATION, TWO OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE DEEMED TO DEPICT PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND THE OTHER TWO WERE JUDGED TO PORTRAY UNATTRACTIVE VICTIMS. ALL NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS READ BY THE SUBJECTS WERE IDENTICAL WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE TYPE OF CRIME COMMITTED AGAINST THE VICTIM. IN SOME NEWSPAPER ARTICLES THE CRIME COMMITTED WAS A RAPE, WHILE IN OTHER ACCOUNTS THE CRIME WAS A MUGGING, AND IN STILL OTHERS, IT WAS A ROBBERY. THE MUGGING AND ROBBERY WERE INTRODUCED AS CONTROL CRIMES, SINCE NEITHER IS A SEX CRIME. AFTER READING THE NEWSPAPER ACCOUNT GIVEN THEM, THE SUBJECTS FILLED OUT A QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGNED TO ASSESS THEIR PERSPECTIVES ON THE LIKELIHOOD OF THE WOMAN BEING A VICTIM OF THE CRIME DESCRIBED, THE EXISTENCE OF ANY VICTIM PROVOCATION, THE DEGREE OF VICTIM PROVOCATION, THE DEGREE OF BLAME TO BE ASSIGNED TO THE OFFENDER FOR THE INCIDENT, AND THE SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENT TO BE ASSIGNED THE OFFENDER SHOULD HE BE FOUND GUILTY AT A COURT TRIAL. AN APPRAISAL OF THE VICTIM'S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE WAS ALSO REQUESTED OF THE SUBJECTS, AND A QUESTION ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE CRIME COMMITTED WAS INCLUDED. RESULTS SHOWED THAT ATTRACTIVE WOMEN ARE PERCEIVED AS MORE LIKELY RAPE VICTIMS THAN UNATTRACTIVE WOMEN. THE UNATTRACTIVE VICTIMS, HOWEVER, ARE PERCEIVED TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVOKING RAPE THAN THE ATTRACTIVE ONES. IN THE MUGGING AND ROBBERY CRIMES, ATTRACTIVE AND UNATTRACTIVE VICTIMS ARE DIFFERENTIALLY PERCEIVED WITH REGARD TO LIKELIHOOD OF BEING ATTACKED OR OF PROVOKING THE INCIDENT. SUBJECTS THROUGHT THAT THE RAPIST SHOULD BE PUNISHED MORE SEVERELY THAN THE MUGGER, WHO IN TURN SHOULD BE PUNISHED MORE HARSHLY THAN THE ROBBER. THE PERCEIVED SEVERITY OF THE CRIME DID NOT AFFECT ATTRIBUTIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY TO THE VICTIM. RESULTS ARE DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF ATTRIBUTION THEORY. TABLES OF DATA DERIVED FROM THE EXPERIMENT ARE INCLUDED. (RCB)