| Sexual assault against women is a major public health problem in the United States. The National Violence Against Women Survey found that 17.6% of women reported having experienced a completed or attempted rape at some point during their lifetimes (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Following sexual assault, victims often experience negative psychological effects (e.g., Atkeson, Calhoun, Resick, & Ellis, 1982; Frazier, 1991; Kilpatrick, Best, Saunders, & Veronen, 1988; Rothbaum, Foa, Riggs, Murdock, & Walsh, 1992), decrements in quality of life (e.g., Frazier, 2003; Koss, Figueredo, & Prince, 2002; Meyer & Taylor, 1986), and are at greater risk for sexual revictimization (Arata, 2000; Classen, Palesh, & Aggarwal, 2005; Gidycz, Coble, Latham, & Layman, 1993; Gidycz, Hanson, & Layman, 1995). Further, victims' postassault experiences may play a role in the development and persistence of negative sequelae. In particular, actual and anticipated negative social reactions following disclosure of sexual assault, such as being blamed or having experiences discounted, play a particularly detrimental role in recovery (e.g., Miller, Canales, Amacker, Backstrom, & Gidycz, 2011; Ullman, 1996, 1999). Extant research has shown that multiple factors play a role in negative attributions toward sexual-assault victims, including characteristics of the assault and the persons involved (e.g., victims' alcohol consumption, sexual histories) (Abbey & Harnish, 1995; Bell, Kuriloff, & Lottes, 1994; Campbell, 1998; Johnson, Jackson, Gatto, & Nowak, 1995; Shotland & Goodstein, 1992) and perceiver variables (e.g., gender, sex-role attitudes, rape-myth acceptance) (e.g., Bridges & McGrail, 1989; Brown & Testa, 2008; Burt, 1980; Jenkins & Dambrot, 1987; Shotland & Goodstein, 1983; Simonson & Subich, 1999).;One mechanism that may explain findings regarding social reactions to sexual-assault victims is individuals' perceived similarity to them (e.g., Bell et al., 1994; Westmass & Silver, 2006). Extant research has identified a relationship between perceived similarity and victim-blame attributions, such that greater perceived similarity is associated with lesser blame (Bell et al., 1994; Thornton, 1984; Workman & Freeburg, 1999); however, research has been less clear in specifying how this relationship temporally develops. This dissertation project tested the temporal hypothesis that pre-to-post-sexual-assault reduction in perceived similarity (i.e., perceived dissimilarity based on the assault itself) predicts victim-blame attributions.;First, the literatures on sexual-assault prevalence, sexual-assault sequelae, impact of perceiver reactions on victim recovery, and correlates of negative reactions were reviewed. Observers' perceived similarity to the victim was conceptualized as a mechanism that might explain victim-blame attributions, and studies that have tested this theory were reviewed and their limitations examined. The defensive attribution hypothesis (Shaver, 1970; Walster, 1966) is highlighted as a model that predicts a specific temporal relationship between perceived similarity and victim blame. Methodology of the current study was enhanced by assessing perceived similarity unobtrusively and at multiple points, including prior to provision of victimization information and following post-sexual-assault victim-culpability attributions. Results supported the established inverse relationship between perceived similarity to a sexual-assault victim and attributions of culpability toward her. Moreover, the present study adds to the extant literature support for a precise temporal hypothesis that is grounded in defensive attribution theory: decrement in perceived similarity upon learning of a woman's sexual assault (as measured by a change score) predicts greater culpability attributions toward her. Additionally, results suggested that victims who are well adjusted may be at even greater risk than maladjusted victims of receiving culpability attributions for their assaults. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.;KEY WORDS: Rape, Sexual assault, Perceived similarity, Blame, Responsibility, Culpability, Victim adjustment... |
