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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study by McLendon et al. was to examine the extent to which males and females differ in their perceptions of date rape.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors conducted a quasi-experimental analysis of cross sectional data that were collected to explore the extent to which males and females differed in their judgments of date rape. They also wanted to determine whether date rape perceptions were influenced by the length of a dating relationship. Data were obtained from 98 female and 48 male introductory psychology students who volunteered to participate in the study based on course accreditation for participation. Subjects for the study were in the age range of 17 to 46 yrs (90% were 23 yrs or younger). The majority of the sample were white and single. Two date rape scenarios were developed by college students (specifics of these students were not provided). The scenarios were pilot tested on several students to form consensus that the scenarios reflected both a male and female perspective on the date rape. No reliability scores were given. Once consensus was reached, the scenarios were randomly distributed among the participants in the study. The scenarios were alike; the only difference between them was the length of time that the couple in the scenarios had been dating. Subjects were asked to respond to 10 questions on a five point Likert scale in which 1="strongly agree" and 5="strongly disagree." The statements included: a) who, of the two people included in the scenarios, should be made responsible for the date rape (e.g., "John should have stopped after Joan said 'no'"), b) interpretation of the date rape (e.g., "John should have expected Joan to have sex with him"), c) the correct reaction to the date rape (e.g., "Joan should report the events that took place to the proper authorities"), and d) evaluation of the date rape (e.g., "Do you define this encounter as date rape?").
A 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design was conducted in which order of scenario presentation (male version first or vise versa), time spent dating (first date or three months dating), and subject sex, were included as the independent variables. Questions related to the rape incident formed the dependent variable. These included perceptions of responsibility for the rape, event interpretation, evaluation of the event, and correct reaction to the incident.
The authors hypothesized that females would be more apt to a) define the event as date rape, b) believe the man to be more responsible for the rape, c) state that the woman should not date the man again, and d) state that the man should be held legally responsible for the event. Multiple analysis of variance was used to analyze the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The results of a MANOVA revealed no significant interaction effects and no significant effect for length of dating time or order of scenario presentation. A significant effect was found for sex of subject (p<.0018). Male and female participants responded in significantly different ways to 6 items: a) "John should have stopped" (female mean=1.12, male mean=1.40; p<.05), b) "John should have expected sex" (female mean=4.92, male mean=4.45; p<.001), c) "John should be held legally accountable" (female mean=1.50, male mean=1.95; p<.01), d) "Joan should report the events" (female mean=1.48, male mean=2.15; p<.01), e) "Joan should date John again" (female mean=4.86, male mean=4.65; p<.01), and f) "Define encounter as date rape" (female mean=1.22, male mean=1.50; p<.01). Although women were found to have significantly stronger responses than men on these statements, the authors reported that there was still little difference in their answers. No definition for the word "stronger" was provided. The authors stated that since men in the current study believed that the event was date rape, this finding was inconsistent with previous research in which it has been found that men have more traditional and rape-supportive viewpoints than do women. However, the men's responses in this study were still significantly less non-traditional than the women's responses. The authors reported that the results do not support the view that date rape occurs as a result of misinterpretation of the behavior of the other gender. The authors suggested this may have resulted because the respondents were exposed to both the man's and woman's perspective on the rape which may have led to a decrement in differences in perceptions. The authors reported that the respondents in this study appeared to believe that the woman was somewhat responsible for the date rape (mean=2.56). It was reported that although the incident was strongly agreed upon as rape, responses were not as strong in indicating that the incident should be reported to the authorities or that the perpetrator should be held legally accountable. The authors stated that it appears that educational efforts have been successful in making date rape more recognizable. Male respondents were not as zealous in their attitudes that the event should be reported to the authorities. The authors stated that, consistent with previous research, men consider rape to be a less serious crime than do women.
The authors reported that the results did not support the first hypothesis. That is, the length of dating time did not influence the participants' perceptions. The authors suggested that this probably occurred since the incident was clearly perceived as rape and length of dating time was irrelevant. Alternatively, it was suggested that the time manipulation was not strong enough and that different results may have been obtained had the time dating length been 8 months or 1 year.
The authors stated that there were several limitations to this study and these included: 1) the scenario was hypothetical, and 2) the respondents read the scenarios rather than being typically exposed to such a situation. The authors suggested that the two perspectives decreased perception difference.
The authors concluded by stating that the findings in this study have suggested that college students identified the presented scenarios as date rape.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
Gender Differences
Adult Female
Adult Male
Adult Perceptions
Female Perceptions
Male Perceptions
College Student Research
Dating Relations
Dating Violence Victim
Dating Violence Offender
Offender Responsibility
Victim Responsibility
Dating Relations
Sexual Assault Offender
Sexual Assault Victim
Sexual Assault Perceptions
Rape Offender
Rape Victim
Rape Perceptions
Partner Violence
Violence Against Women
Adult Violence
Adult Victim
Adult Offender
Female Victim
Male Offender
Male Violence
03-03 |