The present study explored the influence of survivor weight and participant gender, rape myth acceptance and anti-fat attitudes on perceptions of sexual assault. Using an online survey tool, participants (N = 413) read a vignette describing a hypothetical sexual assault scenario and completed several self-report questionnaires. Generalized linear model analyses revealed that participants were more likely to hold the survivor responsible, excuse the perpetrator’s actions, and respond more negatively toward the survivor and more positively toward the perpetrator when the survivor was depicted as thin versus overweight. Interactions were found between rape myth acceptance and survivor weight, gender and survivor weight, and gender and anti-fat attitudes, for certain dependent variables. In addition, men and those with higher levels of rape myth acceptance and anti-fat attitudes were found to make more negative evaluations of the survivor and more positive evaluations of the perpetrator. Recommendations for future research and interventions are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/18116 |
| Date | 14 December 2009 |
| Creators | Clarke, Allyson |
| Contributors | Stermac, Lana |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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