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The Influence of Social Dominance Orientation and Perspective-­Taking on Victim Blaming after Sexual Assault

Emelle, Ogechi LU (2018) PSYP01 20181
Department of Psychology
Abstract
With recent increased media attention on sexual assault against women, many people question why so many women do not report the crimes. One key may reason lies in the phenomenon of victim blaming. This study examined the effects of social dominance orientation (SDO) and perspective-taking on victim blaming after a sexual assault using a between-subjects experimental design. 111 participants responded to an online questionnaire in which they were asked to adopt a perspective and read one of two vignettes depicting a sexual assault. The results showed that SDO had a significant effect on levels of victim blaming, in that those higher in SDO blamed the victim more. The type of perspective adopted by participants also had an effect – those who... (More)
With recent increased media attention on sexual assault against women, many people question why so many women do not report the crimes. One key may reason lies in the phenomenon of victim blaming. This study examined the effects of social dominance orientation (SDO) and perspective-taking on victim blaming after a sexual assault using a between-subjects experimental design. 111 participants responded to an online questionnaire in which they were asked to adopt a perspective and read one of two vignettes depicting a sexual assault. The results showed that SDO had a significant effect on levels of victim blaming, in that those higher in SDO blamed the victim more. The type of perspective adopted by participants also had an effect – those who were tasked to adopt a perspective rather than remain objective blamed the victim significantly less. The type of vignette did not have any significant relationship. These findings suggest that the propensity to blame the victim could be due to individual difference characteristics, but through strategically positioning campaigns to induce perspective-taking the phenomenon could lessen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Emelle, Ogechi LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYP01 20181
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
social dominance orientation, empathy, perspective taking, victim blaming
language
English
id
8951269
date added to LUP
2018-06-20 09:25:15
date last changed
2018-06-20 09:25:15
@misc{8951269,
  abstract     = {{With recent increased media attention on sexual assault against women, many people question why so many women do not report the crimes. One key may reason lies in the phenomenon of victim blaming. This study examined the effects of social dominance orientation (SDO) and perspective-taking on victim blaming after a sexual assault using a between-subjects experimental design. 111 participants responded to an online questionnaire in which they were asked to adopt a perspective and read one of two vignettes depicting a sexual assault. The results showed that SDO had a significant effect on levels of victim blaming, in that those higher in SDO blamed the victim more. The type of perspective adopted by participants also had an effect – those who were tasked to adopt a perspective rather than remain objective blamed the victim significantly less. The type of vignette did not have any significant relationship. These findings suggest that the propensity to blame the victim could be due to individual difference characteristics, but through strategically positioning campaigns to induce perspective-taking the phenomenon could lessen.}},
  author       = {{Emelle, Ogechi}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Influence of Social Dominance Orientation and Perspective-­Taking on Victim Blaming after Sexual Assault}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}