Blacks' and Whites' Perceptions of Interracial and Intraracial Date Rape

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology Vol. 138; no. 3; pp. 392 - 400
• Main Authors: Varelas, Nicole, Foley, Linda A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Taylor & Francis Group 01.06.1998; Heldref; Clark University Press; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adult; African Americans; African Americans - psychology; Attitude; Attitude towards mental illness; Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; Black people; Black White Differences; Blacks; Cities; College Students; Community colleges; Date rape; Dating (Social); European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Female; Gender Identity; Higher Education; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Minority & ethnic groups; Misconceptions; Perceptions; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Race Relations; Racial Attitudes; Racial differences; Racial Relations; Rape; Rape - psychology; Sex Differences; Sexual Assault; Social Perception; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Social psychology; Southeastern USA; Stereotyping; Student Attitudes; Student Surveys; Undergraduate Students; United States of America; Urban Crime; Variables; Victimization; Victims; Victims of crime; White people; Whites; Women; Belief; Human; Rape; Attitude; Race; Negroid; Sexual abuse; Victimology; Caucasoid
• ISSN: 0022-4545; 1940-1183
• DOI: 10.1080/00224549809600391

The prevalence of rape myths contributes to victims' reluctance to report rapes. Black (n = 30) and White (n = 96) U.S. college students responded to the Rape Myth Scale (Burt, 1980) and read a scenario of an acquaintance rape; the race of the perpetrator and victim (Black or White) were varied. The respondents assessed the victim's and perpetrator's responsibility and evaluated the incident. As hypothesized, the respondents with strong beliefs in rape myths were more tolerant of the rapist and less tolerant of the victim than were those with weaker beliefs. There was limited support for the myth of the Black rapist and White victim; however, the myth of the Black rapist appeared particularly strong among the Black respondents. The women responded more negatively to the rapist and more positively to the victim than the men did. Such biases in attitudes toward rape could keep women from reporting rapes and accused rapists from receiving fair trials.