Cognitive processes underlying women's risk judgments: associations with sexual victimization history and rape myth acceptance. 2010

Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USA. eyeater@unm.edu

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the effects of sexual victimization history, rape myth acceptance, implicit attention, and recent learning on the cognitive processes underlying undergraduate women's explicit risk judgments. METHODS Participants were 194 undergraduate women between 18 and 24 years of age. The sample was ethnically diverse and composed primarily of freshman, heterosexual, and single women. Stimuli were written vignettes describing social situations that varied on dimensions of sexual victimization risk and potential impact on women's popularity. Participants completed cognitive tasks assessing relative attention to victimization risk versus popularity impact, learning about either risk or popularity impact, and explicit classification of victimization risk. Participants then completed the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) and the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale; SES responses were used to quantify the severity of victimization experiences. RESULTS More severe victimization history predicted use of higher thresholds for judging situations as risky, as well as lower sensitivity to risk and greater sensitivity to popularity impact when judging risk. Greater rape myth acceptance also predicted lower sensitivity to risk information. Higher relative attention to victimization risk predicted greater sensitivity to risk information when judging risk. Recent learning about either the risk or the popularity impact aspects of social situations modified sensitivity to risk versus popularity when making risk judgments. CONCLUSIONS The study emphasizes the importance of distinguishing the threshold for judging situations as risky from sensitivity to risk-relevant information in understanding individual differences in women's risk judgments. Both processes may be important to consider when developing interventions to reduce women's risk for sexual victimization.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007206 Individuality Those psychological characteristics which differentiate individuals from one another. Individual Differences,Difference, Individual,Differences, Individual,Individual Difference
D007600 Judgment The process of discovering or asserting an objective or intrinsic relation between two objects or concepts; a faculty or power that enables a person to make judgments; the process of bringing to light and asserting the implicit meaning of a concept; a critical evaluation of a person or situation. Judgement,Judgements,Judgments
D011902 Rape Sexual intercourse without consent of the victim.
D003068 Coercion The use of force or intimidation to obtain compliance.
D003071 Cognition Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge. Cognitive Function,Cognitions,Cognitive Functions,Function, Cognitive,Functions, Cognitive
D003469 Culture A collective expression for all behavior patterns acquired and socially transmitted through symbols. Culture includes customs, traditions, and language. Cultural Relativism,Customs,Beliefs,Cultural Background,Background, Cultural,Backgrounds, Cultural,Belief,Cultural Backgrounds,Cultural Relativisms,Cultures,Relativism, Cultural,Relativisms, Cultural
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D012306 Risk The probability that an event will occur. It encompasses a variety of measures of the probability of a generally unfavorable outcome. Relative Risk,Relative Risks,Risk, Relative,Risks,Risks, Relative

Related Publications

Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
March 2022, Journal of interpersonal violence,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
November 2010, Journal of interpersonal violence,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
January 2002, Experimental psychology,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
February 2017, Violence against women,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
January 2016, Violence and victims,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
April 2022, Journal of interpersonal violence,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
August 2022, Archives of sexual behavior,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
April 2022, Journal of interpersonal violence,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
January 2022, Journal of interpersonal violence,
Elizabeth A Yeater, and Teresa A Treat, and Richard J Viken, and Richard M McFall
May 2018, Psychiatry research,
Copied contents to your clipboard!