College student attitudes toward forcible date rape: I. Cognitive predictors.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Criminology

Background:

• Understanding the factors contributing to the acceptance of sexual violence is crucial for prevention efforts.
• Previous research has often focused on emotional and personality traits of perpetrators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate cognitive and attitudinal predictors of acceptance of forcible date rape among students.
• To identify factors beyond traditional emotional and personality variables that may contribute to the etiology of rape.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire was administered to students to measure acceptance of forcible date rape.
• Key variables assessed included attitudes toward women, sexual knowledge, sexual experience, tolerance of socially unapproved sexual behavior, and religiosity.

Main Results:

• Higher acceptance of forcible date rape correlated with uncertainty about what constitutes rape, traditional attitudes toward women, and greater self-sexual permissiveness.
• Individuals more accepting of forcible date rape also demonstrated less accurate sexual knowledge and a slight tendency to blame societal factors or the situation over the male perpetrator.
• Predictor variables explained 35% of the variance in attitudes toward forcible date rape, correctly identifying two-thirds of non-rejectors.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive factors, such as traditional gender role beliefs and sexual permissiveness, are significant predictors of forcible date rape acceptance.
• These findings suggest that understanding cognitive variables is important for developing interventions aimed at preventing sexual violence and understanding the etiology of rape.