Acquaintance Rape and the Attribution of Responsibility: The Role of Alchohol and Individual Differences

Abstract

This study attribution of responsibility and blame for different levels of alcohol intoxication and involvement for an aquaintance rape scenario. Comparisons of conditions in which both the victim and the offender were eqaully intoxicated revealed that participants rated the victim as more responsible for a rape incident after the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Additionally, although females are granted greater responsibility for a rape incident when they have consumed alcohol, they are not held blameworthy for their misfortune. Regardless inebriation, males were always attributed greater responsibility for the rape incident; however, when drinking, a woman was attributed increased responsibility for the outcome of the incident.