Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 31, 2025

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
Perceptions of a Hypothetical Sexual Assault: The Impact of the Interrelationships Between Eight Situational Factors
Michael J Marks1, Yuliana Zaikman2
1Department of Psychology, New Mexico State University, NM, USA.
Abstract:
The current research examined the interactions between various factors that contribute to perceptions of a woman's sexual assault. Participants read a vignette about an assault in which we varied eight factors. We assessed the impact of these factors and their interactions on participants' perceptions of the assault. Participants' perceptions were more driven by the characteristics of the victim rather than the perpetrator. The factor that had the most overall impact on perceptions of the sexual assault was whether the victim explicitly agreed to go to the perpetrator's home. Implications of our results are discussed in various contexts.
Related Concept Videos
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
Bystander Effect
Bullying
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Fundamental Attribution Error

