The rape myth questionnaire: A pilot study

Abstract

Rape myths are distorted beliefs about rape (its causes, context, consequences, perpetrators, victims and their interaction). Rape myths serve to deny, trivialize or justify this form of sexual violence and they contribute to frequently intolerant and hostile treatment of rape victims. Sincethis phenomenonhas not yet received the attention it deserves in the framework of national science, the main aim of this pilot study was to develop a questionnaire in the Serbian language which measures rape myth acceptance. The current paper presents the newly designed Rape Myth Questionnaire, its factor structure, as well as the psychometric characteristics of the scale. The second aim of the study was to map of the prevalence of rape myth acceptance in Serbia. The survey was conducted on a sample of 482 respondents. The results indicate that the Rape Myth Questionnaire is a reliable instrument, with highly valid and representative items. The questionnaire proved to be unidimensional on the sample used in the study. The Discussion contains a detailed description of the prevalence of different groups of rape myths in our country.

Keywords

• rape myth acceptance
• factor structure
• psychometric characteristics