Attribution of Fault to a Rape Victim as a Function of the Attributor's Celibate or Married Lifestyle

Abstract

This experiment examined the reactions to a hypothetical rape incident on the part of 240 Roman catholic subjects who were either celibate (priests or nuns) or married (husbands or wives). The study had a 2 (subject’s sex) x 2 (subject’s lifestyle: celibate or married) x 2 (rapist-victim relationship: stranger or acquainted) x 2 (victim’s willingness or unwillingness to pursue the issue with the police and the media) factorial design with 15 subjects per cell, the last two independent variables being manipulated through a written case account of a rape. Priests and nuns recommended shorter imprisonment to the rapist and attributed greater fault to the victim for her own rape than married men or women. Shorter imprisonment was recommended for the rapist and greater fault was attributed to the victim in the acquainted condition than in the unacquainted condition. A two-way interaction showed that married men recommended shorter imprisonment for the rapist than did married women, but there was no such difference between priests and nuns.