Citation

Chapleau KM, Oswald DL. J. Trauma Dissociation 2014; 15(2): 204-218.

Affiliation

a Marquette University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15299732.2014.867573

PMID

24313356

Abstract

Rape is a pervasive social problem which causes serious physical and psychological repercussions. Rape victims' recovery is often complicated by the public's failure to believe the victim and restore justice. This study applied system justification theory to examine if the justification of gender inequality is related to moral outrage (an emotional precursor to corrective action) and rape myth acceptance; we also examined if rape myth acceptance was associated with moral outrage at injustice. Results showed that gender-specific system justification correlated with less moral outrage to human suffering, as well as greater rape myth acceptance. The relationships between these variables were similar for men and for women, a finding that suggests that rape myths are system-justifying for women. Controlling for gender-specific system justification, rape myth acceptance correlated with less moral outrage. Results are discussed in the context of how legitimizing ideologies reduce moral outrage to injustice and perpetuate a system of sexual violence.

Language: en