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

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, perc...