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Moral Foundations Theory proposes five intuition‐based moral concerns: Care and Fairness ("individualizing foundations") as well as Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity ("binding foundations"). In studies carried out in Italy, Spain, and Germany, the authors examined how these concerns are associated with the acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA), and how both jointly predict rape victim blaming. Overall, victim blaming was positively predicted by Authority and Sanctity, and negatively predicted by Care and Fairness. Although victim blaming was best predicted by AMMSA, moral concerns also contributed to its prediction, partly independently, partly mediated through AMMSA, and in the case of Sanctity in interaction with AMMSA. Discussion highlights how integrating moral foundations in the investigation of victim blaming and AMMSA across different cultural contexts may deepen our understanding of why, in each cultural context, victim blaming and related beliefs are resistant to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communicators often tune their message about a target to the audience's attitude toward that target. This tuning can shape a communicator's own evaluation of the target, which reflects the creation of a shared reality with the audience. So far, evidence for shared-reality creation has been confined to one specific target. In two experiments, we examined whether and when a shared reality would generalize to other targets. In Experiment 1, shared-reality creation about an ambiguous sexist target generalized to the evaluation of a new ambiguous sexist target for which no audience attitude was provided. However, this happened only when there was high (vs. low) commonality with the audience regarding previous judgments. In Experiment 2, we investigated conditions for the temporal persistence of generalization. One week after message tuning to a high-commonality audience, a shared reality generalized to a new ambiguous sexist target when participants recalled the shared-reality creation about the initial target, but it did not generalize in conditions without such recall. Also, no generalization occurred for non-ambiguous or non-sexist targets. Results suggest that shared reality generalization depends on perceived commonality with the audience, recollection of shared reality at time of judgment, and similarity between new and initial targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has shown that (1) better knowledge about the consequences of rape goes along with less rape-supportive attitudes and lower rape proclivity, and (2) empathy with the victims correlates negatively with sexual aggression. In two experiments, the authors combined these approaches in order to reduce sexual harassment myth acceptance (SHMA) and the likelihood to sexually harass (LSH). In Study 1, 101 male and female university students read a report describing sexual harassment as either serious or harmless, and completed scales assessing dispositional empathy and SHMA. Results showed that higher empathy was associated with lower SHMA; furthermore, learning about the seriousness (vs. harmlessness) of sexual harassment led to lower SHMA, particularly in participants low in empathy. Gender differences in SHMA were fully explained by gender differences in empathy. In Study 2, perspective taking, a crucial aspect of empathy, was manipulated. One hundred nineteen male and female participants read either a neutral text or a description of a sexual harassment case, which was written either from the female target's or from the male perpetrator's perspective; then they completed scales measuring SHMA and (only male participants) LSH. The target's perspective led to lower SHMA and to lower LSH than did the neutral text, whereas no such effect was found for the perpetrator's perspective. Implications for intervention programs are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 40:489-503, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We combine evolutionary and sociocultural accounts of sexual harassment, proposing that sexuality-related and hostility-related motives lead to different types of harassment. Specifically, men's short-term mating orientation ( STMO) was hypothesized to predict only unwanted sexual attention but not gender harassment, whereas men's hostile sexism ( HS) was hypothesized to predict both unwanted sexual attention and gender harassment. As part of an alleged computer-chat task, 100 male students could send sexualized personal remarks (representing unwanted sexual attention), sexist jokes (representing gender harassment), or nonharassing material to an attractive female target. Independently, participants' STMO, HS, and sexual harassment myth acceptance ( SHMA) were assessed. Correlational and path analyses revealed that STMO specifically predicted unwanted sexual attention, whereas HS predicted both unwanted sexual attention and gender harassment. Furthermore, SHMA fully mediated the effect of HS on gender harassment, but did not mediate effects of STMO or HS on unwanted sexual attention. Results are discussed in relation to motivational explanations for sexual harassment and antiharassment interventions. Aggr. Behav. 38:521-531, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three studies examined how a woman's reaction to a man's benevolently sexist offer of help affected observers' perceptions. Results suggest a dilemma for women: A woman who accepted benevolently sexist help was perceived as warm but incompetent and less suited for a competence-related job (management consultant), whereas a woman who declined help and asserted her independence as a woman was perceived as competent but cold and less suited for a warmth-related job (day care worker). By contrast, observers viewed the male help-offerer especially favorably (warmer, more competent, and more qualified as a management consultant) when the female target accepted (versus confronted) his patronizing offer. But only perceivers who endorsed benevolent sexism showed these effects. Implications for challenging benevolent sexism are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A representative sample of German residents ( N = 397) was surveyed with the aim of studying their acceptance of contemporary rape myths (RMA), using items from the Acceptance of Modern Myths About Sexual Aggression Scale [AMMSA; Gerger et al., ] in relation to demographic variables (e.g., gender, age), intolerant belief systems (e.g., sexism, islamophobia), the ideologies of rightwing authoritarianism (RWA), and social dominance orientation (SDO), as well as gender identification. Age showed a U-shaped relationship with RMA, whereas gender was unrelated to RMA. For men (women), greater identification with their gender was associated with higher (lower) RMA. Substantial correlations of RMA with intolerant belief systems support the idea of a schema of intolerance. Although RWA and SDO were both related to RMA, only RWA explained unique variance beyond the effects of intolerant belief systems. Results are discussed in comparison to prior studies using mainly student samples. Aggr. Behav. 37:374-385, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research demonstrates a dissociation between explicit and implicit intergroup evaluation in the reciprocal attitudes between indigenous (Mapuche) and non-indigenous Chileans. In both social groups, the explicit measures of attitudes towards the respective in-group and out-group were compared with the Implicit Association Test scores. The results indicate that the members of the low-status minority might explicitly express a moderate evaluative preference for their in-group but might implicitly devalue it. Conversely, the members of the high-status majority might implicitly devalue their out-group but might explicitly express no bias. These results are theoretically framed in terms of system justification, conventional stereotypes and motivated correction processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of school inclusion programs on male and female nondisabled students' stereotypes and attitudes toward people with Down syndrome were studied. Nondisabled students (11–15 years of age) from schools with and without inclusion programs reported positive and negative attitudes toward people with Down syndrome. As hypothesized, girls and students attending schools with inclusion programs showed more favorable attitudes toward people with Down syndrome than did boys and students attending schools without inclusion programs, respectively. Interaction effects of school system and sex of participant suggest that boys' attitudes, in particular, benefit from inclusive schooling. The study provides evidence for the effectiveness of inclusion programs in ameliorating prejudice and intergroup anxiety; and in promoting positive attitudes, affect, and trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scales of rape myth acceptance (RMA) often yield low means and skewed distributions. This is proposed to be because of a change in rape-related beliefs toward more subtle content. Incorporating insights from racism and sexism research, a 30-item self-report scale measuring the acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA) is presented. Across four studies (total N=1,279), the reliability and validity of parallel German and English versions of the AMMSA scale were examined. The results show that both language versions are highly reliable; compared with a traditional RMA scale, means of AMMSA scores are higher and their distributions more closely approximate normality. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses provide evidence for the AMMSA scale's concurrent and predictive construct validity. Aggr. Behav. 33:422–440, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heightened temporary accessibility of men's rape myth acceptance (RMA) increases the correlation between RMA and rape proclivity (RP), suggesting a causal impact of RMA on RP (G. Bohner et al., 1998). We additionally examined previous sexual coercion as an indicator of chronic accessibility of RMA. In Study 1 (N = 107), the correlation between RMA and RP was higher: (a) if RMA was assessed before (versus after) RP; and (b) for men who had previously engaged in sexual coercion compared with men who had not. In Study 2 (N = 148), sexually coercive men were faster answering RMA items than were noncoercive men. Taken together, these findings indicate that the temporary and chronic accessibility of RMA independently affect the RMA-RP link. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines novel hypotheses about interplay of low-effort and high-effort processes in persuasion using the heuristic-systematic model as a conceptual framework. Contrast and assimilation effects in persuasion; Models of assimilation and contrast in social judgment; Mediation of attitude effects through expectancy violation.

The hypothesis that the passive voice is used to put the actor in the background and the acted-upon person in the focus of discourse i s tested in the realm of sexual violence. German university students (N = 67) watched a silent video segment depicting a rape whose circumstances, depending on condition, could or could not be easily interpreted i n terms of rape myths. Then they wrote down what they had seen, j udged the responsibility of assail ant and victim, and completed a rape-myth acceptance scale. Participants used the passive voice more frequently to describe the rape itself vs. other actions they had watched. When circumstances of the rape were easily i nterpretable in terms of rape myths, use of the passive voi ce correl ated positively with rape-myth acceptance and perceived responsibi lity of the victim, and negatively with perceived responsibility of the assail ant. The language of headlines that partici pants generated for their reports al so reflected judgments of assailant and victim responsibili ty. Implications for the non-reactive assessment of responsibility attributions and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various field studies and experimental simulations demonstrated that causal reasoning increases after unexpected as well as after unpleasant events. However, unpleasant events are seen as less likely than pleasant ones in everyday life. Accordingly, the subjective probability of the event and its hedonic quality were naturally confounded in these studies. To isolate the contribution of both determinants, the subjective probability and the valence of an event were independently manipulated in a laboratory experiment. Subjects completed an ostensible professional skills test' and received either success or failure feedback in relation to a criterion set by the experimenter. The subjective probability of success was varied by informing subjects about the distribution of success and failure in a comparable population (either 23 per cent or 77 per cent were said to meet the criterion). The results indicate a pronounced valence effect: The intensity of causal reasoning and the number of possible reasons reported for the outcome was greater after negative than after positive feedback, independent of the a priori probability of the outcome. No evidence for an increase in causal explanations after unexpected, as compared to expected, events was obtained. Several mediating processes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of distinctiveness information in majority and minority influence was studied. Students read a message containing strong or weak arguments advocated by a minority or majority source. The communicator's minority (majority) status was said to be either distinctive to the target topic or nondistinctive across topics. Major dependent variables were attitude judgments and cognitive responses. Across conditions, messages were processed systematically, and a majority communicator tended to be more persuasive than a minority communicator. Most importantly, high distinctiveness led to greater influence than low distinctiveness, and this effect was independent of argument strength and minority versus majority status. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men's rape myth acceptance (RMA; prejudiced beliefs that serve to exonerate the rapist and blame the victim) has been shown to correlate positively with self-reported rape proclivity (RP). To explore the causal pathway underlying this correlation, two experiments were conducted in which the relative cognitive accessibility of RMA and RP was varied. Male students were asked to report their RP in the context of a scale assessing attraction toward sexual aggression (Experiment 1) or in response to five realistic date-rape scenarios (Experiment 2), either before or after they filled out a 20-item RMA scale. In both studies, the correlation of RMA and RP was significantly greater in the after than in the before condition, suggesting that the belief in rape myths has a causal influence on men's proclivity to rape. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extending the motivational assumptions of the heuristic-systematic model (Chaiken, Liberman, & Eagly, 1989), the authors hypothesized that a discrepancy between desired and actual judgmental confidence raises processing effort only if the expectancy that processing will increase confidence is high. In Experiment 1, university students expected to review information for upcoming social judgments. Desired confidence was varied through low versus high task importance. To manipulate expectancy, low versus high perceived processing efficacy was induced via feedback. As predicted, high- (as compared to low-) importance participants expressed greater interest in receiving information and selected more information when perceived efficacy was high, and this effect was mediated via a heightened discrepancy between desired and actual confidence. These effects were not obtained under low perceived efficacy. In Experiment 2, students processed a persuasive message. Only high importance conditions were studied; processing efficacy and argument strength were manipulated. As predicted, high- (but not low-) efficacy participants processed the message systematically, as indicated by a different impact of argument strength and by mediational path analyses. It is argued that the precision of social judgment models would benefit from an explicit consideration of processing- and outcome-related expectancy variables. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanisms by which mood states influence attitude judgments in persuasion settings are delineated in terms of current dual-process theorizing, with an emphasis on mechanisms that may operate when the evaluative implications of message content are ambiguous. In a preliminary zest of hypotheses concerning such circumstances, college-aged subjects were put into a happy or sad mood and then read a message containing unambiguous strong, unambiguous weak, or ambiguous arguments, which was attributed to a highly credible source (heuristic cue). When message content was ambiguous, sad 'as compared to happy) subjects 'attitudes were more influenced by heuristic processing, and their message-related thoughts were biased by the heuristic cue. These and other results are discussed within a dual-processing framework, and compared to other social cognition theorizing on the impact of affect on social judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two experiments, conducted in Germany and the U.S.A., it was found that exposure to a rape report lowered self-esteem and positive affect in women who do not accept 'rape myths' (stereotypical beliefs which blame the victim and exonerate the rapist; Burt, 1980). Men high in rape myth acceptance (RMA) showed an increase in positive affect and self-esteem as a function of exposure to rape; men low in RMA and women high in RMA were largely unaffected. Both experiments demonstrated that these effects were specific to rape, as opposed to violence in general. These results support the feminist hypothesis that the threat of rape serves the function to exert social control over women and to sustain men's dominance. Potential cognitive mechanisms mediating the observed effects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments are reported examining the impact of recipient's mood on the processing of simple, everyday persuasive communications and on subsequent behaviour. Consistent with the general assumption that affective states may inform an individual about the state of its current environment, it was found that positive (as compared to neutral or negative) mood reduced subjects' motivation to systematically process both content information and contextual cues. Specifically, Experiment 1 demonstrated that, in a field setting, the behaviour of subjects who had been put in a good mood was less likely to reflect differences in message content than the behaviour of neutral mood subjects. Experiment 2 replicated and extended these findings, showing that good mood subject's behaviour was uninfluenced by content as well as context information, whereas bad mood subjects did make use of both types of information, Subject's cognitive responses and evaluations paralleled the behavioural data. The results are discussed in terms of their compatibility with contemporary models of persuasion, and their implications for future research on mood and persuasion and on the interplay of affect and cognition in general are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In providing behavioral frequency reports, respondents use the range of the response alternatives as a frame of reference, resulting in higher estimates on scales that offer high rather than low values. The present study demonstrates that the size of this effect increases with increasing question difficulty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of attribution theory to explain social influence processes is discussed. It is suggested that distinctiveness across topics may be an important determinant of influence by affecting both attributions to a position's external validity and the positivity of attributions to the source. In a laboratory experiment, university students read about a communicator who expressed a moderately counter-attitudinal position for which consensus in the reference population was said to be low (implying minority status) or high (implying majority status). In addition, information about high or low distinctiveness across topics and high or low consistency over time was provided. Open-ended attributions and judgements about the communicator and the target issue were assessed. It was predicted and found that high (vs. low) distinctiveness led to more frequent topic attributions, more positive person attributions and greater liking of the communicator. In addition, female (but not male) subjects reported higher ratings of persuasiveness and attitudes closer to the advocated position when distinctiveness was high rather than low. These preliminary results suggest that social influence research may benefit from studying effects of a source's distinctiveness across topics in addition to its behavioural consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social and psychological research, respondents are often asked to report the frequency of a behavior by checking the appropriate alternative from a list of response categories provided to them. Previous research indicated that respondents extract comparison information from the range of the response alternatives, assuming that the average respondent is represented by values in the middle range of the scale, and that the extremes of the scale represent the extremes of the distribution. Extending this line of research, the present studies demonstrates that the users of a respondent's report are also likely to use the range of the response alternatives as a frame of reference in evaluating the implications of the report. Specifically, subjects are found to draw different conclusions about the respondent's personality (Experiment 1), or the severity of his or her medical condition (Experiment 2), from the same absolute frequency report, depending upon the range of the response scale on which the frequency was checked. Moreover, experienced medical doctors were as likely to be influenced by scale range as first-year medical students, suggesting that the phenomenon is of considerable applied importance. Implications for the use of response alternatives in psychological research and diagnostic are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]