Rape Rumors: The Effects of Reporting or Denying Rumors of Sexual Assaults on Campus1

Two studies examine the effects of reporting rumors of sexual assaults on a college campus. Participants read headlines and short articles about an unfamiliar college. Key headlines and articles reported an increase in sexual assaults as a fact, a rumor, a denied rumor, or a proven falsehood. Partic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of applied social psychology Vol. 36; no. 11; pp. 2766 - 2784
Main Authors Fried, Carrie B., Maxwell, Amiee
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.11.2006
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects
Assaults
Sex crimes
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Summary:Two studies examine the effects of reporting rumors of sexual assaults on a college campus. Participants read headlines and short articles about an unfamiliar college. Key headlines and articles reported an increase in sexual assaults as a fact, a rumor, a denied rumor, or a proven falsehood. Participants then rated perceptions of the college, including opinions on the level of crime and safety on campus. Results showed that both reporting the crimes as rumors and reporting denials of the rumors increased concerns compared to control conditions, but these concerns were lower than the concerns raised by reporting the assaults as fact. Findings are in line with predictions and match previous research on rumors and the impact of reported innuendo.
Bibliography:1
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The research presented in this paper was presented previously at the 74
annual Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, Chicago, IL, May 2002.
cfried@winona.edu
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Carrie Fried, Department of Psychology, Winona State University, Winona, MN 55987. E‐mail
ISSN:0021-9029
1559-1816
DOI:10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00127.x