The Relationship Between Perceptions of Alcohol Consumption & Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students

Background and Purpose: Rape myths are false attitudes and beliefs about sexual assault that serve to deny or justify male sexual violence, often by blaming the victim and/or exonerating the perpetrator. The endorsement of rape myths is influenced by multiple factors, including situational circumstances of the sexual assault, particularly the use of alcohol, which is often viewed as both a precipitant of and excuse for sexually aggressive behaviors. A conservative estimate is that 50-72% of all reported sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption. Despite the strong connection between alcohol consumption and sexual assault, research has stopped short of exploring the relationship between perceptions of drinking alcohol and rape supportive beliefs. This study seeks to understand the relationship between perceptions of alcohol consumption and rape myth acceptance.

Methods: A cross-sectional vignette study was utilized to examine whether respondents’ level of rape myth acceptance was dependent upon the perceptions of alcohol consumption of rape survivors and perpetrators. Each respondent (N=233) was randomly assigned to read one of 4 vignettes depicting a date rape scenario with the victim drinking, perpetrator drinking, both drinking or neither drinking. After completing demographic questions, each participant responded to a series of questions to assess their myth based beliefs about the incident (Vignette Scale; α=.93). Students also completed two validated scales assessing levels of rape myth acceptance: The Rape Myth Adherence Scale (RMA; α=.91) and the Acceptance of Modern Myths About Sexual Aggression Scale (AMMSA; α=.93).  Lastly, students completed a subscale of the Scale of Attitudes Towards Alcohol, Alcoholism and Alcoholics Scale (α=.89).

Results: There were significant differences in rape myth acceptance based on a respondent’s perceptions of alcohol consumption on the VS (F (1,194)=10.0356, p=.002) with a small effect size (^η2 = .18), the RMA (F (1,193)=7.343, p=.007) with a  small effect size (^η2 = .19), and the AMMSA (F (1,188)=8.928, p=.003) with a large effect size (^η2 = .68). A correlation analysis showed a strong positive correlation between respondents’ perceptions of individuals who consume alcohol and scores on all three scales assessing rape myth acceptance. Those respondents with more negative perceptions of alcohol consumers had higher levels of rape myth acceptance. Negative perceptions of those who drink was a strong predictor of scores on the VS (F(1, 194)=4.604, p=.03),  the RMA (F(1, 193)=19.003, p=.000), and the AMMSA (F(1, 188)=26.456, p=.000). There was a significant interaction between the influence of the vignette a person read and the participant’s perception of alcohol consumption on all three rape myth acceptance scales: VS (F (3,193)=5.856, p=.001); RMA (F (8,182)=3.558, p=.001), and AMMSA (F (7,182)=4.860, p=.000).

Conclusions: Results of this study show that college students’ perception of alcohol consumption affects their levels of rape myth acceptance. Overall, those with more negative perceptions of those who drink alcohol were more likely to endorse rape myths. This study reiterates the need to examine and investigate the multiple factors that influence rape myth acceptance in order to lower rape supportive beliefs; and reduce the prevalence of sexual assault and rape among this population.