“Men Cannot Be Raped”: Correlates of Male Rape Myth Acceptance

Abstract

Despite the increased attention surrounding rape and sexual assault, research on male victims remains limited, particularly concerning the adherence to rape myths. Rape myths, which are false beliefs that are widely accepted, contribute to the justification and normalization of sexual violence by offenders and focus on the actions and behavior of victims while minimizing the harm. Addressing the gaps in the research, the present study examines how demographics, personal experiences with rape (i.e., being or knowing a survivor), and belief systems relate to rape myth adherence for male victims. The sample consisted of 1,220 adults in the United States who completed an online survey via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The number of myths endorsed ranged from 0 to 21 with a mean of 4.1 ( SD = 4.7). In the final model of the hierarchical regression, results indicate rape myth acceptance was positively associated with individuals who were male, older, and more likely to believe males falsely report rapes to law enforcement at a high rate. Of the gender and sexuality attitudinal scales, individuals who adhered to female rape myths, held negative attitudes toward homosexuals, accepted traditional sexual double standards, and believed in traditional social gender roles were more likely to adhere to male rape myths. Findings demonstrate that rape myths operate similarly for male and female victims. Sexual assault programming and interventions need to address that males can be victims of sexual violence and the myths associated with male victimization in addition to generally challenging the adverse belief systems that serve as the foundation for rape myths generally.

He is a Stud, She is a Slut! A Meta-Analysis on the Continued Existence of Sexual Double Standards

“…In addition, these models can test moderators of differences in outcomes at both the within-study level and the between-study or between-sample level. We performed the analyses with the metafor package (Viechtbauer, 2015) for the R environment (Version 3.5.2; R Development Core Team, 2013), using a step-wise procedure described by Assink and Wibbelink (2016). We used the restricted maximum likelihood procedure to estimate the parameters.…”

Typologies of Sexual Double Standard Adherence in Spanish Population

“…Adherence to such normative beliefs spells negative effects on sexual health (Álvarez-Muelas et al, 2020;Grose et al, 2014;Sánchez et al, 2005). Man-favorable SDS is related to favorable attitudes toward raping women (Jamshed & Kamal, 2019;Lee et al, 2010;Mittal et al, 2017;Moyano et al, 2017;Sierra, Costa et al, 2009;Wanfield, 2018), by constituting a predictor of such attitudes . It has also been associated with aggressive sexual behavior to women (Moyano et al, 2017;Russell & Oswald, 2001;Teitelman et al, 2013;Zurbriggen, 2000), by predicting male sexual coercion toward females (Sierra, Gutiérrez-Quintanilla, et al, 2009), female sexual victimization (Dunn et al, 2014;Koon-Magnin & Ruback, 2012;Lee et al, 2010;, and sexual violence recognition being more difficult (Kim et al, 2019).…”

<p>Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Among Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Post-Conflict Scenario</p>

“…31,[71][72][73] The close relationship between sexual violence and masculinity implies "rape myths" 74 based on beliefs of denial of sexual offenses and men's dominance. [75][76][77][78] Besides, most survivors or victims do not report their experiences due to the stigma associated with sexual violence in the DRC based on cultural perceptions. They fear being abandoned by husbands, primarily if (gang) rape resulted in pregnancy.…”