Sexual Victimization in Relation to Perceptions of Risk: Mediation, Generalization, and Temporal Stability

• Published in: Personality & social psychology bulletin Vol. 31; no. 7; pp. 963 - 976
• Main Authors: Brown, Amy L., Messman-Moore, Terri L., Miller, Arthur G., Stasser, Garold
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2005; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Attitude; Crime Victims; Female; Females; Follow-Up Studies; Generalization (Psychology); Humans; Judgment; Locus of Control; Optimism; Perceptions; Psychological Distress; Retention (Psychology); Risk; Risk perception; Risk-Taking; Sex crimes; Sexual Assault; Sexual Behavior - psychology; Time Perception; Trauma; Victimization; Victims of crime; Women; comparative optimism; victimization; sexual assault; psychological distress; risk perception
• ISSN: 0146-1672; 1552-7433
• DOI: 10.1177/0146167204274101

There is evidence that personal experience with trauma is associated with increases in both personal and comparative risk perception. This study investigates this relation in terms of sexual victimization among women, focusing on three potential mediators: perceived control over sexual assault, perceived similarity to a typical sexual assault victim, and psychological distress. Mediational analyses were investigated using structural equation modeling. Although victimization experience was not related to comparative risk perception, it was associated with greater personal risk perception. This relation was mediated by perceived similarity to a typical sexual assault victim. Prospective analyses indicated that personal risk perception does change in response to sexual victimization but also indicated that heightened risk perception may be an accurate assessment of risk that actually precedes victimization experience. Implications for the meaning of perceived similarity and perceptions of risk for sexual assault victims are discussed.