Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students Across Countries: A Multilevel Analysis of Individual and Country Level Predictors

• In Event: Roundtable: Sexual Violence and Consent

Abstract

At the forefront of rape culture, rape myth acceptance, or widely held false notions regarding the act of rape, continues to be a persistent and harmful problem. At this point, there is a dearth of studies that examine predictors of rape myth acceptance across countries. Using the International Dating Violence Study 2001-2006 collected by Murray Straus and the Gender Inequality Index Scores from the United Nations for 2006, this paper uses multi-level modeling to examine individual and country level predictors of rape myth acceptance of college students from 68 universities in 32 countries. Findings indicate that endorsement and predictors of rape myth acceptance vary by country. All seven individual level variables are significant in predicting rape myth acceptance when controlling for all other variables. Three country level variables were also significant in predicting rape myth acceptance at the individual level. These findings support the hypothesis that context does influence endorsement of rape myth acceptance, which can guide future research regarding this phenomenon on college campuses.

Author

• Kathryn Burnham, West Virginia University