Attributing Responsibility to the Victim of Rape: Influence of Information Regarding Past Sexual Experience

Abstract

Information regarding a rape victim's past sexual behaviors was presented to college students in specially constructed newspaper stories describing testimony at the trial. In two conditions the sexual experience information was explicit, indicating an active or an inactive past. In three other conditions no explicit information was presented, but the reason was varied: The victim refused to testify, the judge refused to allow testimony, or no mention was made of sexual experience. The results indicate that the victim who refuses to discuss her sexual experience is perceived as sexually active, and as more responsible for the rape than in other conditions. When the judge prohibits testimony, the victim is held less responsible for the rape than the sexually inactive and no-information victims. The findings are discussed in reference to attribution theory predictions and recent interest in laws regarding rape.