Attitude Toward Rape (ATR)

Abstract

The Attitude Toward Rape (ATR) scale is a seminal instrument developed by H.S. Feild in 1978 to systematically measure individuals’ attitudes and beliefs concerning sexual assault and its victims. The scale is designed to quantify the degree to which respondents subscribe to traditional, often prejudicial, views regarding the causes of rape, the responsibility of the victim, and the characteristics of the perpetrator. It specifically targets the prevalence of rape myths—false or stereotypical beliefs about sexual assault that serve to deny, downplay, or justify sexual aggression.

The ATR scale consists of numerous statements covering various dimensions of sexual violence, ranging from victim culpability and perpetrator motivation (sex vs. power) to judicial consequences and societal roles. Responses are typically recorded on a Likert-type scale, allowing researchers to generate a composite score reflecting general attitudes toward rape. The original study compared the attitudes of police, rapists, crisis counselors, and citizens, establishing the scale as a crucial tool in psychological and sociological research on sexual assault.

Keywords

Attitude Toward Rape, ATR, rape myths, sexual assault, victim blaming, H.S. Feild, social perception, criminal justice, gender roles, sexual violence

Authors

H.S. Feild

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Attitude Toward Rape (ATR) scale is to provide a standardized, quantifiable measure of attitudes held by various populations concerning the crime of rape. This measurement is critical for understanding the social and psychological factors that influence how victims are treated by the legal system, medical professionals, and society at large. The scale allows researchers to identify specific clusters of beliefs related to victim responsibility and perpetrator motivations.

Furthermore, the ATR scale is frequently used in educational and clinical settings to assess the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing adherence to rape myths. By quantifying these attitudes, the instrument helps highlight biases in professional groups, such as police officers or jury members, whose decisions significantly impact the outcomes of sexual assault cases.

Construct

The ATR scale measures the overarching construct of Attitudes Toward Rape, which is fundamentally rooted in the acceptance or rejection of common societal misconceptions, known as rape myths. These myths often manifest as beliefs that minimize the severity of the crime, imply that victims somehow provoked the assault, or attribute the crime to uncontrollable sexual desire rather than power and aggression.

The scale operationalizes this construct through several distinct dimensions, including beliefs about the nature of the crime (e.g., sex vs. violence), the role of the victim (e.g., resistance level, innocence), and the nature of the perpetrator (e.g., mental illness vs. normality). By encompassing these varied aspects, the ATR provides a comprehensive assessment of stereotypical and non-stereotypical beliefs surrounding sexual assault.

Validity

The original development of the ATR scale by Feild (1978) established strong initial validity by demonstrating its ability to differentiate between groups known to hold widely divergent views on sexual assault. For instance, the study showed significant differences in scores between convicted rapists, who scored highly on myth acceptance, and crisis counselors, who scored low.

Subsequent research has supported the scale’s construct validity, often showing negative correlations between ATR scores (indicating high myth acceptance) and measures of empathy, egalitarianism, and positive attitudes toward women. The instrument is widely accepted in Social Psychology and criminology as a valid measure of prejudicial beliefs regarding rape.

Reliability

While specific reliability coefficients (such as Cronbach’s alpha) are often calculated within individual studies utilizing the ATR, the original instrument demonstrated acceptable internal consistency across its various sub-components. The scale’s reliability has been consistently confirmed in numerous replications and cross-cultural studies over decades, confirming its stability and consistency in measuring the intended construct.

Factor Analysis

Although the ATR was initially presented as a unitary measure of attitude toward rape, subsequent factor analyses conducted by Feild and other researchers have often suggested a multi-dimensional structure. These analyses typically identify distinct factors, such as “Victim Blaming,” “Perpetrator Culpability/Excuse,” and “Severity of the Crime.”

The identification of these underlying factors allows researchers to analyze specific facets of prejudicial attitudes rather than relying solely on a single global score. This factor structure reinforces the scale’s utility in dissecting complex beliefs about sexual violence.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Attitude Scale (Psychometric Survey)

Format: Likert-type scale, typically ranging from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 6 (Strongly Disagree).

Language Available: Primarily English, with translations used in numerous cross-cultural studies.

Population Group: General population, students, criminal justice professionals (e.g., police, judges), crisis counselors, and convicted offenders.

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (typically 16+).

Population Details: The scale is versatile and has been applied across diverse demographic and professional groups to assess systemic biases.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their level of agreement or disagreement with 34 statements related to rape, victims, and perpetrators. Scoring often involves reverse-coding some items to ensure higher scores consistently reflect greater acceptance of rape myths or negative attitudes toward victims.

Keywords

ATR scale, Feild 1978, sexual assault attitudes, victim responsibility, perpetrator motivation, criminal justice attitudes, psychological measurement

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not publicly available or provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not publicly available or provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Not publicly available or provided in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Attitude Toward Rape (ATR) scale was first published in 1978. As an instrument published in a major academic journal, it is generally considered to be in the public domain for non-commercial academic research purposes, provided proper citation is given to the original source (Feild, 1978).

The instrument is documented in the compendium “Measures for the assessment of dimensions of violence against women: A compendium Compiled by Michael Flood.” The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.svri.org/measures.pdf

Reference’s

• Feild‚ H.S. (1978). Attitudes toward rape: A comparative analysis of police‚ rapists‚ crisis counselors‚ and citizens. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology‚ 36‚ 156-179.

• Flood, M. (Compiler). Measures for the assessment of dimensions of violence against women: A compendium. Available online at: http://www.svri.org/measures.pdf

Items of the Attitude Toward Rape (ATR)

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

• [a] A woman can be raped against her will
• [b] The reason most rapists commit rape is for the thrill of physical violence
• [c] Rapists are “normal” men
• [d] In forcible rape‚ the victim never causes the crime
• [e] All rapists are mentally sick
• [f] A ch‎arge of rape two days after the act has occurred is probably not rape
• [g] A woman should be responsible for preventing her own rape
• [h] A man who has committed rape should be given at least 30 years in prison
• [i] Women are trained by society to be rape victims
• [j] A raped woman is a less desirable woman
• [k] During a rape a woman should give no resistance
• [l] Rape provides the opportunity for many rapists to show their manhood
• [m] Women provoke rape by their appearance or behaviour
• [n] “Nice” women do not get raped
• [o] Most ch‎arges of rape are unfounded
• [p] In order to protect the male‚ it should be difficult to prove that a rape has occurred
• [q] Rape is the expression of an uncontrollable desire for sex
• [r] Rape is the worst crime that can be committed
• [s] Rape is a sex crime
• [t] All rape is a male exercise in power over women
• [u] During a rape‚ a woman should do everything she can do to resist
• [v] Rapists are sexually frustrated individual
• [w] In most cases when a woman was raped‚ she was asking for it
• [x] The reason most rapists commit rape is for sex
• [y] Rape of a woman by a man she knows can be defined as “woman who changed her mind afterwards”
• [z] A convicted rapist should be castrated
• [aa] A woman should feel guilty following a rape
• [bb] The degree of a woman’s resistance should be the major factor in determining if a rape has occurred
• [cc] A raped woman is a responsible victim‚ not an innocent one
• [dd] Rape serves as a way to put or keep women in their “place”