University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2022 Apr;37(7-8):NP3728-NP3749. doi: 10.1177/0886260520951312. Epub 2020 Aug 25.
Researchers have theorized and empirically shown that compared with low rape myth acceptance (RMA) individuals, those high in RMA are more likely to discount rape prevention messages. These researchers have urged the development of approaches to counteract the defensiveness and related processes that are presumed to cause such discounting. In the present research we empirically tested the effectiveness of a self-affirmation approach designed to reduce defensiveness to and increase engagement with important but potentially self-threatening information about sexual assault. Female participants classified as low or high in RMA were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or no-affirmation control condition and then read about a controversial case of campus sexual assault. We found support for the effectiveness of such a self-affirmation intervention for high-RMA women. Specifically, on a questionnaire administered after the exposure, affirmed high-RMA women relative to the control group reported greater endorsement of the realistic use of the "yes means yes" standard of consent, higher self-standards in defining consensual sexual behavior, increases in perceived knowledge of available resources for sexual assault victims, lower support of rape myths, and greater support for punishing someone convicted of sexual assault. As expected, for women low in RMA there were no significant differences in reporting on these measures between the affirmation condition and the no-affirmation condition. From an agentic perspective these results are encouraging. This approach may merit further development as part of an intervention for reducing biased processing and increasing the effectiveness of consent campaigns and other sexual violence prevention programs.
研究人员从理论和实证两方面提出，与低强奸谬论接受度（RMA）个体相比，高 RMA 个体更有可能对预防强奸的信息不屑一顾。这些研究人员敦促开发一些方法来对抗被认为导致这种折扣的防御性和相关过程。在本研究中，我们通过实证检验了一种自我肯定方法的有效性，该方法旨在减少对性侵犯相关重要但潜在自我威胁信息的防御性，并增加对其的关注。将 RMA 得分低或高的女性参与者随机分配到自我肯定或无肯定对照组，然后阅读关于校园性侵犯的有争议案例。我们发现这种自我肯定干预措施对高 RMA 女性是有效的。具体来说，在暴露后进行的问卷调查中，相对于对照组，被肯定的高 RMA 女性报告了对“是就是是”同意标准的更实际使用的更大支持，对定义双方同意性行为的自我标准更高，对性侵受害者可用资源的认知增加，对强奸谬论的支持减少，对性侵犯罪的惩罚的支持更大。正如预期的那样，对于 RMA 得分低的女性，在这些措施上，肯定条件和非肯定条件之间没有显著差异。从能动的角度来看，这些结果令人鼓舞。这种方法可能值得进一步开发，作为减少偏见处理和提高同意运动及其他性暴力预防计划有效性的干预措施的一部分。
