In this study I examined how sex of the child and the adult and the age of the child influence people's perceptions regarding the abusiveness of adult-child sexual interactions and attributions of blame and responsibility in such incidents. The relationship of gender-role attitudes to perceptions of child sexual abuse was also investigated. Undergraduate students read one of eight vignettes depicting a sexual interaction between a child and an adult in which the sex of the child, the age of the adult, and the sex of the adult were experimentally manipulated. Respondents then answered questions regarding their perceptions of the abusiveness of the incident and attributions of responsibility and blame made to the adult. Results indicated that scenarios depicting a 15-year-old were rated as less abusive and less responsibility was attributed to the adult relative to vignettes involving a 7-year-old. Furthermore, when the vignette depicted a 15-year-old with an adult of the opposite sex, less blame was attributed to the adult. / Department of Psychological Science
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/185487 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Maynard, Carri F. |
| Contributors | Ball State University. Dept. of Psychological Science., Wiederman, Michael W. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 68 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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