The relationship between attribution of blame and the perception of resistance in relation to victims of sexual violence

Abstract

Several studies have examined victim blaming in rape scenarios. However, there is limited research on the analysis of the perception of blame when two or more perpetrators are involved. The present article explores the perception of blame in cases involving rape based on the level of resistance shown by the victim and the presence of one or more perpetrators. A study was carried out involving 351 university students who responded to a survey after reading a hypothetical assault scenario. Six situations were established where the victim showed either low or high resistance, depending on whether the resistance was verbal or physical and verbal, and in the presence of one or two male perpetrators. It is expected that perpetrators are more culpable when acting in groups and that less resistance from the victim leads to greater attribution of blame. The results confirm that more blame is attributed to the perpetrators when they act in groups than when they act alone. Likewise, women consider the victim generally exerts greater resistance and this variable influences the attribution of greater blame.

The Influence of Victim Gender on Perception of Economic Abuse

“…We found that males blamed the victim and minimized the economic abuse more than females did. This finding is consistent with previous findings in which women had higher levels of empathy toward victims of abuse and therefore blamed the victim less than men did (Laso & Rodríguez-Diaz, 2022). Researchers found that men were more likely to blame the victim and minimize economic abuse in a study comparing differences in attitudes of economic abuse with male and female participants (Green et al, 2022).…”