Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students in India: Prevalence and Predictors in a Changing Context

ABSTRACT

In recent years, India has been marked by highly publicized cases of rape that have led to public outcry and demands for rape-law reform and the protection of women. In this context, the purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which rape myths persist in Indian society and to examine the sources of those beliefs. Based on a survey of 55 items drawn from prior research, a sample of Indian college students (N = 910) showed widespread acceptance of these beliefs. Both male and female respondents endorsed rape myths, though acceptance was higher among males and some items were more accepted than others. Responses to a subset of items included in past studies revealed that students in India agreed with rape myths more than their U.S. counterparts. Finally, multivariate analyses indicated that beyond demographic characteristics, rape myth acceptance was heightened not only by sexist attitudes but also by two measures of criminal propensity–antisocial attitudes and low self-control.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr. Krishan Kant (Principal of Aggarwal College, Faridabad) for his assistance with translating and administering the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hanif Qureshi

Hanif Qureshi is an Inspector General of Police in Haryana, India. He earned his MBA and doctorate at the University of Cincinnati. His research interests include police legitimacy, crime prevention, rape myth acceptance, organizational justice, and work-family conflict.

Teresa C. Kulig

Teresa C. Kulig is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her research focuses on a range of issues including studying the nature and prevalence of human trafficking, testing theories of victimization, evaluating public perceptions on justice-related topics, and examining the social construction of crime.

Francis T. Cullen

Francis T. Cullen is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus and a Senior Research Associate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. He is a Past President of both the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. His current research focuses on the organization of criminological knowledge, correctional rehabilitation, the influence of racial beliefs on public policy preferences, and the criminology of Donald Trump.

Bonnie S. Fisher

Bonnie S. Fisher is Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests span victimological topics ranging from the measurement of interpersonal violence against college students to the identification of theory-based predictors of interpersonal victimization to the evaluation of crime prevention strategies, and most recently, to the design and implementation of longitudinal study of interpersonal violence against and by emerging adults. She was the Co-PI, with David Cantor, on the 2015 and 2019 Association of American University’s Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct.