Rape victims face many difficulties after the traumatic event, one of these being inadequate social support. Victims frequently report apathetic, insensitive, or accusing reactions from support systems (Ahrens, 2006). Understanding how peers respond is essential for ensuring sufficient support is provided. This study explored how college students may perceive victims as predicted by participants’ gender, religious orientation, attitudes toward permissiveness, and length of relationship between victim and perpetrator. Also, order in which participants were asked about their sex was examined as a predicting variable. Participants were randomly assigned to read a vignette featuring a couple that had been dating for either 3 months or 18 months. Each vignette depicted nonconsensual intercourse. Eight questions assessed rape supportive attributions and victim blaming; these were the criterion variables. Of the eight multiple linear regression models, five produced significant results. These results suggest a need for more victim support and less victim blaming.
","abstract_html":"<p>Rape victims face many difficulties after the traumatic event, one of these being inadequate social support. Victims frequently report apathetic, insensitive, or accusing reactions from support systems (Ahrens, 2006). Understanding how peers respond is essential for ensuring sufficient support is provided. This study explored how college students may perceive victims as predicted by participants’ gender, religious orientation, attitudes toward permissiveness, and length of relationship between victim and perpetrator. Also, order in which participants were asked about their sex was examined as a predicting variable. Participants were randomly assigned to read a vignette featuring a couple that had been dating for either 3 months or 18 months. Each vignette depicted nonconsensual intercourse. Eight questions assessed rape supportive attributions and victim blaming; these were the criterion variables. Of the eight multiple linear regression models, five produced significant results. These results suggest a need for more victim support and less victim blaming.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Herweyer, Julie A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychological Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Bradley Olson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:34Z","subjects":["Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/72","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Bradley Olson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Herweyer, Julie A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-11-12T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychological Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/72"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Rape victims face many difficulties after the traumatic event, one of these being inadequate social support. Victims frequently report apathetic, insensitive, or accusing reactions from support systems (Ahrens, 2006). Understanding how peers respond is essential for ensuring sufficient support is provided. This study explored how college students may perceive victims as predicted by participants’ gender, religious orientation, attitudes toward permissiveness, and length of relationship between victim and perpetrator. Also, order in which participants were asked about their sex was examined as a predicting variable. Participants were randomly assigned to read a vignette featuring a couple that had been dating for either 3 months or 18 months. Each vignette depicted nonconsensual intercourse. Eight questions assessed rape supportive attributions and victim blaming; these were the criterion variables. Of the eight multiple linear regression models, five produced significant results. These results suggest a need for more victim support and less victim blaming.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["RAPE PERCEPTION BASED ON RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION, GENDER, AND LENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Bradley Olson"],"dc:creator":["Herweyer, Julie A."],"dc:date.available":["2015-11-12T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Rape victims face many difficulties after the traumatic event, one of these being inadequate social support. Victims frequently report apathetic, insensitive, or accusing reactions from support systems (Ahrens, 2006). Understanding how peers respond is essential for ensuring sufficient support is provided. This study explored how college students may perceive victims as predicted by participants’ gender, religious orientation, attitudes toward permissiveness, and length of relationship between victim and perpetrator. Also, order in which participants were asked about their sex was examined as a predicting variable. Participants were randomly assigned to read a vignette featuring a couple that had been dating for either 3 months or 18 months. Each vignette depicted nonconsensual intercourse. Eight questions assessed rape supportive attributions and victim blaming; these were the criterion variables. Of the eight multiple linear regression models, five produced significant results. These results suggest a need for more victim support and less victim blaming.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/72"],"dc:subject":["Psychology"],"dc:title":["RAPE PERCEPTION BASED ON RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION, GENDER, AND LENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychological Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:34Z"}