Jo, E., & Park, J. (2020). Differences of Victim Blaming in Rape and Assault: Mediating Effects of Ambivalent Sexism and Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence (In Korean). Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 34(1), 45-66.

Abstract

This study compared blaming the victim and perpetrator by participants’ sex and age in different types of crime. A total of 323 participants(179 female, 144 male) classified into four groups by their age(20~29, 30~39, 40~49, 50~59) read a case of rape and assault and rated on victim and perpetrator blaming and perpetrator sentencing. Additionally, participants were asked to rate ambivalent sexism scale and acceptance of interpersonal violence scale in order to examine how their ambivalent sexism and acceptance of interpersonal violence affected evaluations of victim and perpetrator. The results showed that there existed differences in blaming victim and perpetrator between rape and assault cases. In a rape case, the age of participants had an effect on victim-blaming, such that the older the participants, the more they blamed the victim. This effect was mediated by hostile sexism. In an assault case, male participants blamed the perpetrator less than female participants did, which was mediated by acceptance of interpersonal violence. This study is the first research in South Korea that compared judgment toward victim and perpetrator between sexual violence and non-sexual violence, considering participants’ age as well as their sex.

Keywords: victim blaming, crime type, age differences, ambivalent sexism, acceptance of interpersonal violence