The Interaction Between Observer Sex and Sexual Identity on Attributions of Blame With a Heterosexual Female Victim

Abstract

This article examines the difference in blame attribution between men and women, heterosexuals and homosexuals, and heterosexual males, heterosexual females, gay males, and lesbians in response to a vignette depicting the acquaintance rape of a heterosexual female ( n = 177). While the levels of empathy for the victim and blaming of the perpetrator were high for every group and blaming of the victim and rape myth acceptance were low for every group, some important trends emerged. Consistent with previous research, women reported higher rates of empathy for the victim, lower rape myth acceptance, and lower victim blaming than did men. Men and homosexuals had higher rates of victim blaming and were more likely to excuse the perpetrator's behavior than were women and heterosexuals, respectively. Lesbians had various patterns where they were at times more similar to heterosexual males (e.g., how much they blamed the perpetrator) or heterosexual females (e.g. in terms of empathy levels). They were consistently different from gay males. Further, the majority of differences were attributed to gay males, who had the highest levels of victim blaming and empathy for the perpetrator, were the most likely to excuse the perpetrator's behavior, and had the highest rate of rape myth acceptance of all of the groups. We conclude that sex and sexual identity interact to shape attributions about rape and discuss avenues for future research to explore these patterns.

Blame Avoidance and Transgender Individuals’ Attributions About Rape: Unpacking Gendered Assumptions in Defensive Attribution Research

“…We found that a one-unit increase in agreement that the scenario was rape translated to a 6.5-point value reduction in RMA. We also found that the respondent’s sexuality was a significant factor, where heterosexual respondents accepted rape myths at a lower rate than nonheterosexual respondents by 5.92 points, which is consistent with earlier findings (Diamond-Welch et al, 2021, discussed in independent variables).…”

“…In the first wave, there were four HITs—one for heterosexual men, one for heterosexual women, one for gay men, and one for lesbian women. We did not collect data from other sexualities and our sample was restricted to cisgender individuals (see Diamond-Welch, Mann, Bass, & Tollini, 2021). In the second wave, there were two HITs—one for transgender men another for transgender women.…”

“…We used text from the vignette by Grubb and Harrower (2009) to describe the rape itself. We altered the information about the individuals involved to be more relatable to a nonstudent population-this included a change of scene (work related) and change of age (based on average age of those who have completed previous vignettes, Diamond-Welch et al, 2021). A full discussion of the development of this vignette can be found in our earlier work (Diamond-Welch et al, 2021).…”

“…As we argued that similarity is central to the processes of empathy and victim blaming, we also controlled for it in those models. This examination of transgender status was an extension of previous work examining how sexual identity affects attributions toward the victim and perpetrator (Diamond-Welch et al, 2021). This previous research explored how similarity based on perceived likelihood of future victimization operates for sexuality, but here we were primarily concerned with transgender status.…”

“…We still controlled for sexual identity for two reasons. First, we knew from this previous research that sexual identity can affect attributions (Diamond-Welch et al, 2021). Specifically, it has been found that gay men blame heterosexual female sexual assault victims at significantly higher rates than lesbian women, heterosexual men, and heterosexual women.…”