Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, and Experiences With Sexual Violence–Model Inventory

Abstract

The Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, and Experiences With Sexual Violence–Model Inventory (Boateng et al., 2023) is a 16-item psychometric instrument developed to explore the complex interrelationships among attitudes toward date rape, adherence to rape myths, and personal experiences with sexual violence. The scale was specifically validated using data gathered from a sample of university students in Ivory Coast, providing a crucial perspective from a non-Western context. Items comprising the inventory were adapted from established measures, notably the foundational work of Lanier & Elliot (1997) and Lonsway & Fitzgerald (1994), ensuring a foundation in existing literature on sexual aggression and victimization. The subsequent study reported robust psychometric properties, including the factor structure and internal consistency reliability across its distinct constructs.

Keywords

Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Violence, Crimes, Measurement Models, Acquaintance Rape, Myths, Rape, Sex Offenses, Sexual Attitudes, Sexual Harassment, Violent Crime, Forensic Assessment, Structural Equation Modeling.

Authors

Boateng, Francis D., Doumbia, Nabi Youla, Kooffreh, Bassey, Kwakye-Nuako, Charlotte Omane.

Purpose

The principal objective of the Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, and Experiences With Sexual Violence–Model Inventory is to quantitatively assess the interplay between victimization experiences related to sexual violence and the subsequent cognitive and affective responses of individuals, particularly university students. Specifically, the instrument aims to measure how experiencing or witnessing sexual violence influences both an individual’s general perceptions of rape and their specific attitudes towards date rape scenarios.

This measurement model serves as a diagnostic tool for researchers and practitioners interested in understanding the prevalence and psychological correlates of rape-supportive beliefs, providing empirical data necessary for developing targeted prevention and intervention strategies within academic and community settings, especially in developing regions like Ivory Coast.

Construct

The inventory is designed to capture four interrelated psychological constructs across its 16 items. These constructs are grouped under broader themes of attitudes, myths, and experiences. The first core construct, College Date Rape Attitudes, measures specific beliefs held by students regarding consent, responsibility, and sexual expectations within dating scenarios, often reflecting underlying victim-blaming tendencies.

The second major construct is Rape Myths, which assesses the endorsement of false societal beliefs that minimize the severity of rape, shift blame from the perpetrator to the victim, or suggest that rape is often exaggerated. The third primary domain, Sexual Violence, is further delineated into two distinct subscales: Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault. This comprehensive structure allows researchers to differentiate between various forms of sexual aggression and victimization experiences.

Validity

At the time of the initial publication (Boateng et al., 2023), detailed information concerning the scale’s construct validity, concurrent validity, or predictive validity was not explicitly available or reported in the primary source document. Future research utilizing the Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, and Experiences With Sexual Violence–Model Inventory will be necessary to establish robust evidence supporting the instrument’s validity across diverse populations and cultural contexts.

Reliability

The reliability of the inventory was assessed using internal consistency measures, specifically Cronbach’s alpha. The results demonstrated acceptable to good reliability across most subscales. Both the College Date Rape Attitudes construct and the Rape Myths construct yielded an identical alpha coefficient of 0.73, indicating satisfactory internal consistency for research purposes.

For the subscales related to Sexual Violence, the Sexual Harassment construct achieved an alpha value of 0.74, suggesting strong internal consistency. The Sexual Assault construct reported a slightly lower but still acceptable alpha value of 0.67. These reliability estimates support the internal coherence of the items within their respective theoretical domains.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques were employed to determine the underlying dimensional structure of the 16-item inventory. The results of the Factor Analysis supported the hypothesized structure, confirming the separation of the constructs into distinct dimensions: College Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, and the two components of Sexual Violence (Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault).

For both the College Date Rape Attitudes and Rape Myths constructs, the cumulative total variance explained by the factors was reported as 56%. Within the broader Sexual Violence construct, the identified subscales demonstrated robust factor solutions: Sexual Harassment explained 51% of the cumulative variance, while Sexual Assault explained a higher proportion at 61%. These findings provide empirical evidence for the structural validity of the proposed measurement model.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: Items are rated using a combination of 5-point and 7-point Likert-type scales, depending on the specific construct being measured.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Adolescence (13-17 yrs); Adulthood (18 yrs & older); Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs); Thirties (30-39 yrs)

Population Details: The initial validation study was conducted using a sample of university students in Ivory Coast, with respondents ranging in age from 17 to 36 years.

Test Methodology: Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Measurement Model, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

Keywords

Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Violence, Acquaintance Rape, Sexual Attitudes, Violent Crime, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Structural Equation Modeling.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Boateng, Francis D.: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8411-271X; Kwakye-Nuako, Charlotte Omane: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6397-094X.

Affiliation Email addresses: Boateng, Francis D. (University of Mississippi, Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies); Doumbia, Nabi Youla (University Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Department (UFR) of Criminology); Kooffreh, Bassey (University of Mississippi, Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies); Kwakye-Nuako, Charlotte Omane (University of Cape Coast, Department of Forensic Science). Email for correspondence: [email protected].

Correspondence Address: Boateng, Francis D.: University of Mississippi, Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, University Park, Mississippi, United States, 38677, [email protected].

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed in 2023.

• Permissions: Contact Publisher

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

• Commercial Use: No

Reference’s

Boateng, F. D., Doumbia, N. Y., Kooffreh, B., & Kwakye-Nuako, C. O. (2023). Relationship between date rape attitudes, rape myths and experiences with sexual violence among Ivorian college students. Journal of School Violence, 22(2), 290–305. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2023.2180747.

The development of the items was also influenced by previous research by Lanier & Elliot (1997) and Lonsway & Fitzgerald (1994), foundational works in the study of acquaintance rape and rape myths.

Items of the Date Rape Attitudes, Rape Myths, and Experiences With Sexual Violence–Model Inventory

This is a 16-item measure. The constructs include: College date rape attitudes; Rape myths; Sexual violence (Sexual harassment; Sexual assault). The test items are available, as indicated by the source.

College date rape attitudes

1. If a woman asks a man out on a date, then she is interested in having sex.

2. Women provoke rape by their behavior.

3. When a woman asks her date back to her place, I expect that something sexual will take place.

4. If a woman dresses in a sexy dress she is asking for sex.

Note. Items are rated using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree.

Rape myths

1. It is usually only women who dress suggestively that are raped.

2. Women tend to exaggerate how much rape affects them.

3. When women are raped, it’s often because the way they said “no” was ambiguous.

4. A woman who dresses in skimpy clothes should not be surprised if a man tries to force her to have sex.

Note. Items are rated using a 7-point from 1 (not at all agree) to 7 (very much agree).