436 Chapter 11the same school or a nearby school, both
female and male students blamed the per-
petrator more when the victim attended the
same school than a nearby school (Harrison
et al., 2008).
Yet, rape also may be related to an im-
portant situational variable: misperceptions
of sexual intentions and behavior. Men inter-
pret sexual behavior differently than women,
perhaps because men are more likely than
women to assume others are interested in
sex. Several studies of college students have
demonstrated that men are more likely than
women to interpret neutral behavior in more
sexual terms (Bondurant & Donat, 1999).
Our culture’s scripts for heterosexual
dating set up these kinds of opportunities
for miscommunication (Krahé, 2000). De-
spite changes in women’s and men’s roles,
dating scripts have retained traditional male
and female relations. It is still the case that
women are not supposed to initiate sexual
interactions and that men have the burden of
deciphering the subtle cues of sexual interest
that women convey. The expectation is that
sexual interest is conveyed with implicit
nonverbal behavior rather than explicit ver-
bal behavior. Another feature of the hetero-
sexual dating script is that women should
initially reject sexual advances, even when
desired. This is referred to astoken resistance.
Studies of undergraduates reveal that 40%
have used token resistance at least once in a
relationship. Thus, the heterosexual dating
script sets the stage for miscommunication
about sexual interest.
We are also more likely to infer sexual
assault when an act is committed by a male
rather than a female because our stereotype
of sexual assault involves a male perpetra-
tor and a female victim. Male college stu-
dents were asked to rate the extent to which
fourteen behaviors were indicative of sexuala form of sexually deviant behavior and thus
tied to sex rather than aggression. Later, the-
orists began to focus on characteristics of the
victim. As women’s sexuality became more
accepted during the middle of the 20th cen-
tury, people came to wonder what role
women played in rape. People asked what the
woman could have done to cause or prevent
the rape: What was she wearing? Did she
fight back? Was there evidence of physical
harm? Even today, certain characteristics of
women are associated with more blame for
rape. Women and men assign greater blame
to women who wear more revealing clothing,
are walking alone at night, and have sexually
promiscuous backgrounds.
The next phase in history appeared with
the development of the women’s movement.
Rape was reconceptualized as an act of violence
rather than an act of sex. Feminists maintained
that rape was a “means of enforcing gender
roles in society and maintaining the hierar-
chy in which men retained control” (Donat &
D’Emilio, 1992, p. 14). In her best-selling book
Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape,
Susan Brownmiller (1975) defined rape as “a
conscious process of intimidation by which all
men keep all women in a state of fear” (p. 15).
Today, people generally regard rape as an act of
violence rather than sex. Men are socialized to
be aggressive, to be dominant over women, and
to view women as sexual conquests.
Laboratory studies consistently show
that males are more likely than females to
blame the victim in response to rape vi-
gnettes (Grubb & Harrower 2008). One
reason may have to do with the fact that fe-
males can relate more than males to a female
victim. People who perceive themselves
as similar to the victim are more likely to
blame the perpetrator. In a study of college
students that manipulated perceived simi-
larity by noting the victim either attendedM11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 436 6/21/11 12:43 PM