Was she wearing red? The function of victim‐blaming in women's intrasexual competition

Abstract

Previous research indicates that women frequently use red clothing to signal their sexual receptivity, with men and women both recognizing this as a reliable cue to such receptivity. Nonetheless, receptivity cues can inform perceptions of women's culpability for experiencing sexual assault. Thus, women experiencing sexual assault could become more of a target for victim‐blaming if assaulted while wearing red. Such victim‐blaming could be especially apparent especially among those who believe the world is just. The current study presented a sexual assault vignette to American undergraduates (155 women, 66 men) describing a woman wearing either red or green whom participants evaluated for the degree of culpability she has for the assault. Results indicated that the red‐wearing target was viewed as more culpable for the assault, particularly for women with heightened just‐world beliefs. We frame results from an evolutionary framework considering victim‐blaming as part of women's intrasexual competition.