The Attribution of Responsibility in Acquaintance Rape Involving Ecstasy.

Abstract: 

This study examined the attributions of responsibility for the parties involved in a date rape using a 2 x 2 between-subjects design. Forty-nine undergraduate female psychology students read one of four hypothetical date rape scenarios depicting identical circumstances except for the level of intoxication by either or both of the parties. Responsibility level was ascertained by participant response to eight questions ranked on a 7-point Likert-type scale. It was expected that intoxication of the victim would enhance her perceived level of responsibility for the rape while intoxication of the perpetrator would diminish his perceived level of responsibility, that intoxication of the victim would encourage participants to believe that she led the perpetrator to believe that she desired to have sex with him while decreasing support for her to report the crime, and that intoxication of the perpetrator would reduce the amount of control attributed to the perpetrator and also minimize the recommended punishment for the crime. Results are discussed in terms of the "Just World hypothesis," including implications for emotional recovery of rape victims.