Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Protocol for Studying Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Naturally Cycling Female Rats
Published on: February 23, 2015
[Relations Between Rape Myths and Behavioral and Personality Characteristics in Males Convicted of Rape]
Laura Freudenthaler1, Reinhard Eher1,2
1Begutachtungs- und Evaluationsstelle für Gewalt- und Sexualstraftäter (BEST), Österreichisches Bundesministerium für Justiz, Wien, Österreich.
Objective:
To date the relationships between rape myths and other psychological constructs within males who have committed rape have not been explored sufficiently. Considered as a risk factor for the perpetration of rape it seems significant to examine their association to individual behavioral and personality characteristics more in detail.
Methods:
Therefore, we analyzed the relations between self-reported rape myth acceptance and the self-evaluation of aggressiveness, assertiveness, hypersexuality, social anxiety, sexual anxiety, SCID personality characteristics and the external assessment of psychopathy within a sample of N=569 males convicted of rape.
Results:
The results showed significant correlations with all constructs except sexual anxiety, antisocial personality and psychopathy. Furthermore, findings indicated the assignment of the relevant variables to two principal components: rape myths, aggressiveness, hypersexuality, paranoid and narcissistic personality (K1) on the one hand and psychopathy and antisocial personality (K2) on the other hand.
Discussion:
Following the results, rape myths are contextualized within the investigated psychological constructs and their potential differentiation from psychopathy and antisocial personality is discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Phallic
Conduct Disorder
Personality Theory by Eysenck and Eysenck
In the extroversion/introversion dimension, highly extroverted people are sociable, outgoing, and easily connect with others. In contrast,...
Attribution Theory
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...

