Attributions About Rape in a Continuum of Dissolving Marital Relationships

This study explored what actions taken by married women to dissolve their marital relationships might result in different attributions about husband rape perpetration. A sample of 233 undergraduates (120 men, 114 women) read one of three rape scenarios in which a married woman changed her marital status with her husband perpetrator (moved out, legally separated, or divorced). Two other scenarios (currently married and stranger) were used as comparison situations. Participants answered questions to assess their rape-supportive and sex role stereotypical attributions of victim blame. Results indicated that participants endorsed the most rape-supportive attributions in the currently married situation. Participants made intermediate levels of rape-supportive attributions in the legally separated, moved out, and divorced scenarios. The least rape-supportive attributions were made in the stranger rape situation. Across all scenarios, men were more likely to make rape-supportive and sex role stereotypical victim blame attributions than women. Legal and theoretical implications are discussed.