Does “No” Really Mean “No” After You Say “Yes”?

Abstract

The current study examined how participant (i.e., gender) and situational (i.e., couple-specific sexual intercourse history) factors influence attributions about stranger, early dating, late dating, and marital rape. Two hundred undergraduates were randomly assigned to read one of four levels of victim-perpetrator relationship vignettes. In addition, within the two dating relationship conditions, the couple's sexual intercourse history was manipulated. As the degree of acquaintance between the perpetrator and victim increased, the participants incorporated more rape-supportive and sex role stereotypical attributions. Participants also made more negative attributions about the date rapes when the couple was thought to have previously engaged in consensual sexual intercourse. There were no differences in attributions across the date and marital rape conditions when the participants were informed that the dating couples had previously engaged in sexual intercourse, and several gender differences were obtained in these comparisons. The social and legal implications of these findings are discussed.