This article was downloaded by: [University of Calgary] On: 01 February 2015, At: 09:31 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
The Journal of Social Psychology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vsoc20
Observer Hypercompetitiveness and Victim Precipitation of Rape a
a
Linda M. Kaczor , Richard M. Ryckman , Bill b
Thornton & Robert H. Kuehnel
a
a
Department of Psychology , University of Maine , USA b
Department of Psychology , University of Southern Maine , USA Published online: 30 Jun 2010.
To cite this article: Linda M. Kaczor , Richard M. Ryckman , Bill Thornton & Robert H. Kuehnel (1991) Observer Hypercompetitiveness and Victim Precipitation of Rape, The Journal of Social Psychology, 131:1, 131-134, DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1991.9713832 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1991.9713832
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
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The Journal of Social Psychology, I 3 I ( 1). 131-134
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
Replications and Refinements Under this heading appear summaries of studies which, in 500 words or less, provide useful data substantiating, not substantiating, or refining what we think we know. Additional details concerning the results can be obtained by communicating directly with the investigator or, when indicated, by requesting supplementary material from Microfiche Publications.
Observer Hypercompetitiveness and Victim Precipitation of Rape LINDA M. KACZOR RICHARD M. RYCKMAN Department of Psychology University of Maine BILL THORNTON Department of Psychology University of Southern Maine
ROBERT H. KUEHNEL Department of Psychology University of Maine
RESEARCH INVESTIGATING POTENTIAL SOURCES of differential attitudes regarding the assignment of responsibility to sexual assault victims for their own victimization has focused on various observer characteristics, including their sex (e.g,. Calhoun, Selby, & Warring, 1976; Feild, 1978; Thornton, 1977), their personal and situational similarity to the victim (Fulero & DeLara, 1976), their attitudes toward women (Thornton, Ryckman, & Robbins, 1982), individual differences in personal versus environmental attribution orientation (Thornton, Robbins. & Johnson, 1981), belief in a just world (Miller, Smith, Ferree, & Taylor, 1976; Zuckerman, Gerbasi, Kravitz, Our thanks to Joel Gold for his helpful comments on the manuscript. Requests for reprints should be sent to Richard M . Ryckman, Department of Psychology, University of Maine, Orono, M E 04469. 131
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
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The Journal of Social Psychology
& Wheeler, 1975), and the role of observer arousal levels (Thornton, 1984; Thornton, Hogate, Moirs, Pinette, & Presby, 1986). One individual difference variable, however, has been neglected in this literature but is likely to be related strongly to assignments of responsibility: hypercompetitiveness (Homey, 1937). It involves an indiscriminant need to compete and win and to avoid losing at any cost as a means of maintaining or enhancing feelings of self-worth, with an attendant orientation of aggressiveness and exploitation and denigration of others, especially those weaker than oneself (Ryckman, Hammer, Kaczor, & Gold, 1990). Consistent with this description, Ryckman et al. found that men with hypercompetitive attitudes tend to adopt hypermasculine life styles. A central component of such hypermasculinity involved negative, calloused attitudes coward women (i.e., seeing them as physically weak and as sexual objects to be manipulated and scorned). Thus, hypercompetitive men should have hostile attitudes toward rape victims, seeing them as losers in a competitive and violent physical struggle with their assailants for dominance and superiority. Consequently, it was predicted that such individuals would assign heightened responsibilities to rape victims for their own victimization. This prediction was expected to be confirmed for women also, because in American college populations in which women compete daily with men, a similar, highly intense competitive attitude may be allowed or even encouraged in them (Sadalla, Kenrick, & Vershure, 1987). Three hundred thirteen American undergraduates ( 138 women and 175 men) enrolled in introductory psychology classes participated in the study. Subjects filled out the Victim Precipitation and Responsibility (VPR) Scale (Barnett & Feild, 1977), coefficient alpha, .86; the Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale (Ryckman et al., 1990), alpha, 34;and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1964; Reynolds, 1982), alpha, .65. The last measure was included to control for subjects’ tendencies to present themselves in a socially desirable way when filling out the other two personality instruments. After controlling for social desirability bias through partial correlational analysis, sex of observer was significantly related to VPR, r = - .46, y < .001, indicating that men more than women tended to blame rape victims somewhat for their own victimization. As expected, hypercompetitiveness was slightly but significantly linked to VPR for men, r = - .37, p < .001, and for women, r = - .32, p < .001, indicating that hypercompetitive individuals, irrespective of their gender, were inclined to blame rape victims more. In conclusion, the fact that college students with hypercompetitive attitudes tended to minimize the seriousness of rape by blaming victims for precipitating it suggests that college women who have been victimized may not receive much-needed support from such peers. Such rape-tolerant attitudes
Kaczor, Ryckman, Thornton, & Kuehnel
133
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
could also well impede the recovery of the victim (Hall, Howard, & Boezio, 1986). Fortunately, many colleges have become concerned with eliminating rape and have taken initial steps in this direction by conducting educational programs designed to raise students’ awareness and to introduce prevention strategies (Jenkins & Dambrot, 1987). Within this context, programs that target individuals with rape-tolerant attitudes for specialized educational efforts might be more effective than ones that ignore individual differences. On a more global level, the elimination of rape would appear to demand fundamental changes in socialization practices that foster the acquisition of hypercompetitive attitudes in many of its members (Kohn, 1986). REFERENCES
Barnett, N. J., & Feild, H. S. (1977). Sex differences in university students’ attitudes toward rape. Journal of College Student Personnel, 18, 93-96. Calhoun, L. G., Selby, J. W., & Waning, L. J. (1976). Social perception of the victim’s role in rape: An exploratory examination of four factors. Human Relations, 29, 517-526. Crowne, D. P.,& Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence. New York: Wiley. Feild, H. S.(1978). Attitudes toward rape: A comparative analysis of police, rapists, crisis counselors, and citizens. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 156-179. Fulero, S. M., & DeLara, C. (1976). Rape victims and attributed responsibility: A defensive attribution approach. Victimology: An International Journal, I , 55 1563. Hall, E. R., Howard, J. A., & Boezio, S. L. (1986). Tolerance of rape: A sexist or antisocial attitude. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 10, 101-1 18. Homey, K. (1937). The neurotic personality of our time. New York: W. W. Norton. Jenkins, M. J., & Dambrot, F. H. (1987). The attribution of date rape: Observer’s attitudes and sexual experiences and the dating situation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 17, 875-895. Kohn, A. (1986). No contest: The case against competition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin . Miller, F. D., Smith, E. R., Ferree, M. M., & Taylor, S. E. (1976). Predicting perceptions of victimization. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 6, 352-359. Reynolds, W. M. (1982). Development of a reliable and valid short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 119-125. Ryckman, R. M., Hammer, M., Kaczor, L. M., & Gold, J. A. (1990). Construction of a hypercompetitive attitude scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 630639. Sadalla, E. K., Kenrick, D. T., & Vershure, B. (1987). Dominance and heterosexual attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 730-738. Thornton, B. (1977). Effect of rape victim’s attractiveness in a jury simulation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 3 , 666-669. Thornton, B. (1984). Defensive attribution of responsibility: Evidence for an arousal-based motivation bias. Journal of Personal& and Social Psychology, 46, 721-734.
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Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
Thornton, B., Hogate, L., Moirs, K., Pinette, M . , & Presby, W. (1986). Physiological evidence of an arousal-based motivational bias in the defensive attribution of responsibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22, 148-1 62. Thornton, B., Robbins, M. A . , & Johnson, J. A . (1981). Perception of the rape victim’s culpability: The influence of respondents’ personal environment causal attribution tendencies. Human Relations, 34, 225-237. Thornton, B., Ryckman, R. M . , & Robbins, M. A. (1982). The relationship of observer characteristics to beliefs of causal responsibility of victims of sexual assault. Human Relations, 35, 321-330. Zuckerman, M . , Gerbasi, K . C., Kravitz, R. I . , & Wheeler, L. (1975). The belief in a just world and reactions to innocent victims. JSAS: Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology. 5 . 326.
Received March IS, 1990
The Journal of Social Psychology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vsoc20
Observer Hypercompetitiveness and Victim Precipitation of Rape a
a
Linda M. Kaczor , Richard M. Ryckman , Bill b
Thornton & Robert H. Kuehnel
a
a
Department of Psychology , University of Maine , USA b
Department of Psychology , University of Southern Maine , USA Published online: 30 Jun 2010.
To cite this article: Linda M. Kaczor , Richard M. Ryckman , Bill Thornton & Robert H. Kuehnel (1991) Observer Hypercompetitiveness and Victim Precipitation of Rape, The Journal of Social Psychology, 131:1, 131-134, DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1991.9713832 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1991.9713832
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
The Journal of Social Psychology, I 3 I ( 1). 131-134
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
Replications and Refinements Under this heading appear summaries of studies which, in 500 words or less, provide useful data substantiating, not substantiating, or refining what we think we know. Additional details concerning the results can be obtained by communicating directly with the investigator or, when indicated, by requesting supplementary material from Microfiche Publications.
Observer Hypercompetitiveness and Victim Precipitation of Rape LINDA M. KACZOR RICHARD M. RYCKMAN Department of Psychology University of Maine BILL THORNTON Department of Psychology University of Southern Maine
ROBERT H. KUEHNEL Department of Psychology University of Maine
RESEARCH INVESTIGATING POTENTIAL SOURCES of differential attitudes regarding the assignment of responsibility to sexual assault victims for their own victimization has focused on various observer characteristics, including their sex (e.g,. Calhoun, Selby, & Warring, 1976; Feild, 1978; Thornton, 1977), their personal and situational similarity to the victim (Fulero & DeLara, 1976), their attitudes toward women (Thornton, Ryckman, & Robbins, 1982), individual differences in personal versus environmental attribution orientation (Thornton, Robbins. & Johnson, 1981), belief in a just world (Miller, Smith, Ferree, & Taylor, 1976; Zuckerman, Gerbasi, Kravitz, Our thanks to Joel Gold for his helpful comments on the manuscript. Requests for reprints should be sent to Richard M . Ryckman, Department of Psychology, University of Maine, Orono, M E 04469. 131
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
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The Journal of Social Psychology
& Wheeler, 1975), and the role of observer arousal levels (Thornton, 1984; Thornton, Hogate, Moirs, Pinette, & Presby, 1986). One individual difference variable, however, has been neglected in this literature but is likely to be related strongly to assignments of responsibility: hypercompetitiveness (Homey, 1937). It involves an indiscriminant need to compete and win and to avoid losing at any cost as a means of maintaining or enhancing feelings of self-worth, with an attendant orientation of aggressiveness and exploitation and denigration of others, especially those weaker than oneself (Ryckman, Hammer, Kaczor, & Gold, 1990). Consistent with this description, Ryckman et al. found that men with hypercompetitive attitudes tend to adopt hypermasculine life styles. A central component of such hypermasculinity involved negative, calloused attitudes coward women (i.e., seeing them as physically weak and as sexual objects to be manipulated and scorned). Thus, hypercompetitive men should have hostile attitudes toward rape victims, seeing them as losers in a competitive and violent physical struggle with their assailants for dominance and superiority. Consequently, it was predicted that such individuals would assign heightened responsibilities to rape victims for their own victimization. This prediction was expected to be confirmed for women also, because in American college populations in which women compete daily with men, a similar, highly intense competitive attitude may be allowed or even encouraged in them (Sadalla, Kenrick, & Vershure, 1987). Three hundred thirteen American undergraduates ( 138 women and 175 men) enrolled in introductory psychology classes participated in the study. Subjects filled out the Victim Precipitation and Responsibility (VPR) Scale (Barnett & Feild, 1977), coefficient alpha, .86; the Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale (Ryckman et al., 1990), alpha, 34;and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1964; Reynolds, 1982), alpha, .65. The last measure was included to control for subjects’ tendencies to present themselves in a socially desirable way when filling out the other two personality instruments. After controlling for social desirability bias through partial correlational analysis, sex of observer was significantly related to VPR, r = - .46, y < .001, indicating that men more than women tended to blame rape victims somewhat for their own victimization. As expected, hypercompetitiveness was slightly but significantly linked to VPR for men, r = - .37, p < .001, and for women, r = - .32, p < .001, indicating that hypercompetitive individuals, irrespective of their gender, were inclined to blame rape victims more. In conclusion, the fact that college students with hypercompetitive attitudes tended to minimize the seriousness of rape by blaming victims for precipitating it suggests that college women who have been victimized may not receive much-needed support from such peers. Such rape-tolerant attitudes
Kaczor, Ryckman, Thornton, & Kuehnel
133
Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
could also well impede the recovery of the victim (Hall, Howard, & Boezio, 1986). Fortunately, many colleges have become concerned with eliminating rape and have taken initial steps in this direction by conducting educational programs designed to raise students’ awareness and to introduce prevention strategies (Jenkins & Dambrot, 1987). Within this context, programs that target individuals with rape-tolerant attitudes for specialized educational efforts might be more effective than ones that ignore individual differences. On a more global level, the elimination of rape would appear to demand fundamental changes in socialization practices that foster the acquisition of hypercompetitive attitudes in many of its members (Kohn, 1986). REFERENCES
Barnett, N. J., & Feild, H. S. (1977). Sex differences in university students’ attitudes toward rape. Journal of College Student Personnel, 18, 93-96. Calhoun, L. G., Selby, J. W., & Waning, L. J. (1976). Social perception of the victim’s role in rape: An exploratory examination of four factors. Human Relations, 29, 517-526. Crowne, D. P.,& Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence. New York: Wiley. Feild, H. S.(1978). Attitudes toward rape: A comparative analysis of police, rapists, crisis counselors, and citizens. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 156-179. Fulero, S. M., & DeLara, C. (1976). Rape victims and attributed responsibility: A defensive attribution approach. Victimology: An International Journal, I , 55 1563. Hall, E. R., Howard, J. A., & Boezio, S. L. (1986). Tolerance of rape: A sexist or antisocial attitude. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 10, 101-1 18. Homey, K. (1937). The neurotic personality of our time. New York: W. W. Norton. Jenkins, M. J., & Dambrot, F. H. (1987). The attribution of date rape: Observer’s attitudes and sexual experiences and the dating situation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 17, 875-895. Kohn, A. (1986). No contest: The case against competition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin . Miller, F. D., Smith, E. R., Ferree, M. M., & Taylor, S. E. (1976). Predicting perceptions of victimization. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 6, 352-359. Reynolds, W. M. (1982). Development of a reliable and valid short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 119-125. Ryckman, R. M., Hammer, M., Kaczor, L. M., & Gold, J. A. (1990). Construction of a hypercompetitive attitude scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 630639. Sadalla, E. K., Kenrick, D. T., & Vershure, B. (1987). Dominance and heterosexual attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 730-738. Thornton, B. (1977). Effect of rape victim’s attractiveness in a jury simulation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 3 , 666-669. Thornton, B. (1984). Defensive attribution of responsibility: Evidence for an arousal-based motivation bias. Journal of Personal& and Social Psychology, 46, 721-734.
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Downloaded by [University of Calgary] at 09:31 01 February 2015
Thornton, B., Hogate, L., Moirs, K., Pinette, M . , & Presby, W. (1986). Physiological evidence of an arousal-based motivational bias in the defensive attribution of responsibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22, 148-1 62. Thornton, B., Robbins, M. A . , & Johnson, J. A . (1981). Perception of the rape victim’s culpability: The influence of respondents’ personal environment causal attribution tendencies. Human Relations, 34, 225-237. Thornton, B., Ryckman, R. M . , & Robbins, M. A. (1982). The relationship of observer characteristics to beliefs of causal responsibility of victims of sexual assault. Human Relations, 35, 321-330. Zuckerman, M . , Gerbasi, K . C., Kravitz, R. I . , & Wheeler, L. (1975). The belief in a just world and reactions to innocent victims. JSAS: Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology. 5 . 326.
Received March IS, 1990
