Rape Supportive Attitude Scale

Abstract

The Rape Supportive Attitude Scale (RSAS) is a psychometric instrument designed to quantify attitudes that are hostile toward rape victims and supportive of beliefs that perpetuate sexual violence. Developed by Ilsa L. Lottes, the scale consists of 20 items derived from a larger pool of items found in established rape attitude measures. The items were selected based on high content validity—ensuring they address one of seven core victim-callous beliefs—and strong factor loadings. Responses are captured using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.”

Initial validation studies were conducted on two large samples of college students in the northeastern United States. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency, with Cronbach alpha coefficients of .91 in both samples, indicating excellent reliability in measuring the unidimensional construct of rape-supportive attitudes. The scale is appropriate for administration to adult populations.

Keywords

Rape Supportive Attitude Scale, RSAS, Rape Myths, Victim Blaming, Sexual Violence, Hostile Attitudes, Likert Scale, Victim-Callous Attitudes, Psychological Measurement.

Authors

Ilsa L. Lottes

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Rape Supportive Attitude Scale (RSAS) is to provide a standardized measurement of attitudes hostile to rape victims. This instrument specifically targets and quantifies adherence to common false beliefs, or myths, surrounding the nature of rape and the characteristics of both rapists and victims.

The successful measurement of these attitudes is crucial because research indicates that such beliefs not only contribute to an environment that promotes sexual violence but also actively hinder and prolong the recovery and recuperative process for survivors of rape. The scale thus serves as a diagnostic and research tool to gauge the prevalence and intensity of these detrimental beliefs within specific populations.

Construct

The RSAS measures the construct of Rape Supportive Attitudes, which is characterized by a cluster of victim-callous beliefs. The scale is built around seven specific, theoretically critical beliefs that rationalize or minimize sexual violence and place blame on the victim.

These seven core beliefs, which form the conceptual basis for the 20 items, include the notions that:

• women inherently enjoy sexual violence;
• women bear the primary responsibility for rape prevention;
• rape is motivated by sexual desire rather than power or aggression;
• rape only occurs to certain types of women (e.g., promiscuous);
• a woman loses desirability after being raped;
• women frequently file false rape claims; and
• rape can be justified under specific circumstances.

Validity

The validity of the RSAS was established through correlations with several theoretically related psychological constructs across two independent college student samples (N=246 and N=390). High correlations (p < .001) in the predicted direction supported the scale’s construct validity.

Specifically, RSAS scores were significantly associated with measures of nonegalitarian gender role beliefs (r = .58 and r = .64), traditional attitudes toward female sexuality (r = .50 and r = .42), and highly correlated with adversarial sexual beliefs (r = .65 and r = .70). Furthermore, higher RSAS scores were positively correlated with arousal to sexual violence (r = .32 and r = .37) and non-acceptance of homosexuality (r = .25 and r = .34). For male respondents, the RSAS also correlated significantly with the Hypermasculinity Inventory (r = .44 and r = .52), further confirming that the scale successfully captures attitudes linked to traditional and aggressive male gender roles. Finally, correlation analyses showed that male respondents consistently reported significantly higher victim-callous attitudes than female respondents (r = .36 and r = .35, p < .001).

A shortened 12-item version of the scale was also validated in subsequent research (Bell et al., 1992, 1995). This subset demonstrated construct validity through significant correlations with measures of feminist attitudes, male dominant attitudes, liberalism, and social conscience, further supporting the RSAS’s ability to measure rape callousness effectively.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the 20-item Rape Supportive Attitude Scale was assessed using Cronbach alpha coefficients across the two validation samples. Reliability proved to be excellent and consistent, with an alpha of .91 reported for the first sample of 246 college students and an identical alpha of .91 for the second sample of 390 students.

A subsequent 12-item subset of the RSAS, used in longitudinal research, showed slightly lower but acceptable reliability. For a sample of 521 first-year university students, the alpha was .77. When 300 of these students completed the subset again as seniors, the Cronbach alpha was .76, and the test-retest reliability over the senior year period was calculated at .53.

Factor Analysis

A principal components analysis was conducted using data from both college student samples to determine the underlying structure of the scale. The analysis consistently revealed the emergence of a single, dominant factor.

This dominant factor accounted for 37% of the total variance in the item responses for both samples, supporting the conceptualization of rape-supportive attitudes as a unidimensional construct. In both analyses, all 20 scale items exhibited factor loadings of .39 or greater on this primary factor, confirming that all items contribute meaningfully to the overall measurement of the construct.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report attitude scale

Format: 20 items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale response format (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree). Completion time is approximately 10 minutes.

Language Available: English (Original development language)

Population Group: Adults, specifically studied in academic settings.

Age Group: Appropriate for adults, initial samples focused on young adults (19–22 years old).

Population Details: Initial validation was performed on two college student cohorts (N=246 and N=390) from diverse academic departments (e.g., sociology, engineering, business) in the northeastern United States. Respondents were primarily single.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with each statement. Scoring involves summing the coded responses (1 through 5) for all 20 items. Items are scored in the same direction, meaning a higher total score indicates a greater level of rape supportive attitudes or victim-callousness. Items are typically randomized within a larger questionnaire to mitigate response set bias.

Keywords

Rape Attitudes, Sexual Aggression, Victim Blaming, Psychological Scale, Psychometrics, College Students, Gender Roles, Social Psychology, Attitude Measurement.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Ilsa L. Lottes, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 5401 Wilkens Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21228

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: The scale was developed and validated with initial data published in 1991 (Lottes, 1991), drawing from previous measures dating back to the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Permissions and Fee: Information regarding current licensing fees or explicit permission requirements is not provided in the source material. Correspondence should be directed to the author for usage rights.

Reference’s

• Barnett, N. J., & Feild, H. S. (1977). Sex differences in university students’ attitudes toward rape. Journal of College Student Personnel, 18, 93–96.
• Bell, S., Kuriloff, P., Lottes, I., Nathanson, J., Judge, T., & Fogelson- Turet, K. (1992). Rape callousness in college freshmen: An empirical investigation of a sociocultural model of aggression towards women. Journal of College Student Development, 33, 454–461.
• Bell, S., Lottes, I., & Kuriloff, P. (1995). Understanding rape callous- ness in college students: Results of a panel study. Unpublished manuscript.
• Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 217–230.
• Koss, M. P. (1981). Hidden rape on a university campus (Grant No. R01MH31618). Rockville, MD: National Institute of Health.
• Lottes, I. L. (1991). Belief systems: Sexuality and rape. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 4, 37–59.
• Marolla, J., & Scully, D. (1982). Attitudes toward women, violence, and rape: A comparison of convicted rapists and other felons (Grant No. R01MH33013–01A1). Rockville, MD: National Institute of Health.
• Mosher, D. L., & Sirkin, M. (1984). Measuring a macho personality con- stellation. Journal of Research in Personality, 18, 150–163.
• Russell, D. (1975). The politics of rape. New York: Stein and Day.
• Wheeler, J. R., & Utigard, C. N. (1984, June). Gender, stereotyping, rape attitudes, and acceptance of interpersonal violence. Paper presented at the combined annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex and the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, Boston, MA.
• Williams, J. E., & Holmes, K. A. (1981). The second assault: Rape and public attitudes. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Items of the Rape Supportive Attitude Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Being roughed up is sexually stimulating to many women.
2. A man has some justification in forcing a female to have sex with him when she led him to believe she would go to bed with him.
3. The degree of a woman’s resistance should be the major factor in determining if a rape has occurred.
4. The reason most rapists commit rape is for sex.
5. If a girl engages in necking or petting and she lets things get out of hand, it is her fault if her partner forces sex on her.
6. Many women falsely report that they have been raped because they are pregnant and want to protect their reputation.
7. A man has some justification in forcing a woman to have sex with him if she allowed herself to be picked up.
8. Sometimes the only way a man can get a cold woman turned on is to use force.
9. A charge of rape two days after the act has occurred is probably not rape.
10. A raped woman is a less desirable woman.
11. A man is somewhat justified in forcing a woman to have sex with him if he has had sex with her in the past.
12. In order to protect the male, it should be difficult to prove that a rape has occurred.
13. Many times a woman will pretend she doesn’t want to have intercourse because she doesn’t want to seem loose, but she’s really hoping the man will force her.
14. A woman who is stuck-up and thinks she is too good to talk to guys deserves to be taught a lesson.
15. One reason that women falsely report rape is that they frequently have a need to call attention to themselves.
16. In a majority of rapes the victim is promiscuous or had a bad reputation.
17. Many women have an unconscious wish to be raped, and may then unconsciously set up a situation in which they are likely to be attacked.
18. Rape is the expression of an uncontrollable desire for sex.
19. A man is somewhat justified in forcing a woman to have sex with him if they have dated for a long time.
20. Rape of a woman by a man she knows can be defined as a “woman who changed her mind afterwards.”