Persons Who Fear Freedom and Equality Are the Ones Who Most Blame Women Who are Victims of Acquaintance Rape

Abstract

This study analyzes whether the degree of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation influence the blame placed on a woman who is the victim of an acquaintance rape. The participants read a rape scenario and responded to three questionnaires about the blame of the victim, right-wing authoritarianism, and social dominance. The results show that greater blame was attributed to the victim when the participants scored high in right-wing authoritarianism or social dominance. They also reveal an interaction between both variables: participants who scored high in both right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance attributed the greatest blame to the victim.