Date rape and alcohol use: An examination of attributions of blame and their effect upon rape empathy

The purpose of this study was to determine which attribution theory, Shaver's Defensive Attribution Theory (1970) or Jones and Davis' Theory of Correspondent Inference (1965); provides the best explanation for understanding how counselor trainees attribute blame in a date rape situation when alcohol has been consumed. Specifically assessed were attributions of blame, attitudes towards rape victims, and rape empathy among male and female counselor trainees for date rape when alcohol was involved. Shaver's theory states that an observer's perceived similarity to an actor will affect the observer's judgments of the actor. Jones' and Davis' theory suggests that judgments about an actor's behavior are affected by the perception that the actor is aware of the consequences of his or her behavior. The design of this study was a 2 (Participant Gender: Female/Male) x 2 (Victim's Consumption of Alcohol: Alcohol consumed/No Alcohol) x 2 (Perpetrator's Consumption of Alcohol: Alcohol consumed/No Alcohol) factorial with three dependent variables, attributions of blame for rape, attitudes toward rape victims, and rape empathy. Participants included 142 graduate students in clinical and counseling psychology masters and doctoral programs who received one of four scenarios that described a date rape that varied the alcohol consumption of the victim and perpetrator. Multivariate tests indicated a significant 3-way interaction for Gender by Victim Alcohol Condition by Perpetrator Alcohol Condition, F (3,132) = 3.47, p = .02, eta2 = .07. For the scenario where the victim consumed alcohol but the perpetrator did not, female participants had significantly more favorable attitudes toward the rape victim than did male participants, F (1,142) = 11.15, p ≤ .01. It seems that perceived similarity to the rape victim had a positive impact on female participants' attitudes toward the rape victim. Furthermore, it seems that perceptions of a perpetrator's awareness of the consequences of consuming alcohol may have indirectly had a negative impact on male participants' attitudes toward the rape victim. As such, this interaction suggests that although there is some support for Shaver's and Jones' and Davis' theories, neither theory completely explains counselor trainees' attitudes toward the rape victim.