@article{ref1,
title="College students' responses to their sexually assaulted friends: impact of rape myth acceptance, prior victimization, and social relationships",
journal="Archives of sexual behavior",
year="2021",
author="McNichols, Edward and Seffrin, Patrick M. and Rich, Karen",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="College students often confide in their friends following sexual assaults. Friends' reactions may include a variety of emotions and helping behaviors; prior  victimization, knowing the accused, and rape myth acceptance may affect these. A  sample of 1016 students at a religiously affiliated university completed  quantitative surveys measuring their rape myth acceptance, history of sexual assault  victimization, disclosures received, and reactions to the most recent disclosure. A  subset of 636 students (506 females, 130 males) reported receiving at least one rape  disclosure from a friend. Regression analysis of the subset revealed that  participants' rape myth acceptance, victimization histories, and relationships to  the accused influenced reactions to friends who were sexually assaulted. Students  who endorsed rape myths were less likely to lend support to survivors; they were  also more likely to experience shame and anger, and to blame their sexually  assaulted friends. Students who shared friends with both the survivor and the  accused were more likely to offer support to the survivor, experience feelings of  divided loyalty, and blame the survivor. Blaming or feeling embarrassed toward  survivors was associated with a tendency to advise them on how to avoid  revictimization. This suggests that some disclosure recipients focused on their  friend's behavior to explain the sexual assault. Cognitive dissonance theory may  partially explain the findings.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0004-0002",
doi="10.1007/s10508-020-01842-4",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01842-4"
}