Conformity to masculine norms, the Dark Tetrad, and men’s rape myth acceptance.

Abstract

This study extended research on men's rape myth acceptance (RMA) by examining the relative contributions of conformity to masculine norms and the Dark Tetrad of personality to RMA in 301 predominantly White and heterosexual men in the United States. Results of hierarchical regressions revealed that conformity to masculine norms and the Dark Tetrad each accounted for incremental variance (i.e., beyond the other variable set) in men's RMA, with conformity to power over women and heterosexual selfpresentation norms and psychopathy emerging as unique and positive predictors. Results of post hoc mediation analyses indicated that psychopathy's relation to RMA was partially to fully mediated through conformity to the power over women norm. Results of correlations supported hypothesized associations of conformity to power over women and violence norms with psychopathy and sadism, conformity to the risktaking norm with psychopathy, and conformity to the playboy norm with three of the four Dark Tetrad traits. Public Significance StatementMen's rape myth acceptance has been linked to attitudinal and behavioral indicators of sexual aggression; therefore, it is important to identify factors that may underlie men's endorsement of rape myths. The present study demonstrated that men who conformed more to masculine normsespecially desiring power over women and disdaining gay men-and possessed higher levels of psychopathy were more likely to endorse rape myths.