The "Normal" Victim: The Effects of Gender Stereotypes on Reactions to Victims

Author(s): Judith A. Howard

Source: Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Sep., 1984), pp. 270-281
Published by: American Sociological Association
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 270 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY

sionof consistency whenrealityinterferes Harvey,W. Ickes, and R. F. Kidd (eds.),

withself-enhancement." Journal
ofPerson- New Directionsin Attribution Research,
alityand Social Psychology 32:1030-37. Volume2. NJ: Lea Publishing.
Schneider, D. J. Tedeschi,J. T., and M. Riess
1973 "Implicitpersonality theory:A review." 1981 "Identities, thephenomenal selfand labo-
Psychological Bulletin9:294-309. ratory research."Pp. 3-22 inJ.T. Tedeschi
1981 "Tactical self-presentations: Toward a (ed.), Impression Management Theoryand
broaderconception."Pp. 23-40 in J. T. Social Psychological Research.New York:
Tedeschi (ed.), -ImpressionManagement AcademicPress.
TheoryandSocialPsychological Research. Warr,P. B., and C. Knapper
New York:AcademicPress. 1968 The Perceptionof People and Events.
Stires,L. K. and E. E. Jones New York:Wiley.
1969 "Modestyvs. self-enhancement as alterna- Zanna,M. P., G. R. Goethals,and J. F. Hills
tiveformsof integration." Journalof Ex- 1975 "Evaluating sex-relatedability: Social
perimental Social Psychology5:172-88. comparisons withsimilarothersand stan-
Snyder,M. L., W. G. Stephan,and D. Rosenfeld dardsetters."Journal ofExperimental So-
1978 "Attribution egotism."Pp. 91-117in J. H. cial Psychology 11:86-93.

Social Psychology Quarterly

1984, Vol. 47, No. 3, 270-281

The "Normal" Victim:The Effectsof Gender Stereotypeson

Reactionsto Victims
JUDITH A. HOWARD
Universityof Washington

Thispaper addresses the role of gender stereotypesin structuringresponses to victimization.

Whenwomenare victimizedin a mannerconsistentwithcrimestereotypes,or "normal" crimes,
they may be especially likely to incur blame and to be derogated in accord with gender
stereotypes. An experimentthat elicited reactions to videotaped assault vignettes was
conducted. Womenwereperceived as more likelyto be victimizedthan were men, and women
received higher attributionsof general and characterological blame than did men. Male
victims,on theotherhand, receivedmorebehavioralblame thandidfemales. Both womenand
men were evaluated in stereotype-consistentpatterns. Victimizationappears to be perceived
as a feminineand potentiallyfeminizingexperience.

INTRODUCTION (Lerner,1980). We may need to findsome

meaningand predictability in unexpected,
There is a curious ambivalencein our reac- negativeincidents(Walster,1966).By blaming
tionsto victims.Whilepityand concernare the a victim,implying therewas something the
normativelyprescribedresponses to victimsin victimcouldhavedoneto avoidthissituation,
our society, we may also derogate victims, we maysatisfythesemotivations.
holding them at least partly responsible for These explanationsfocuson characteristics
having been victimized.A varietyof reasons ofindividuals,
andingeneraloncharacteristics
have been offeredfor this ostensiblyantinor- of theevaluator.Social biases have also been
mativereaction. We may need to perceive the cited as explanationsfor victimderogation,
world as just, for example, a place in which implicatingcharacteristicsof the victim.In
misfortune occurs onlyto those who deserve it Blaming the Victim, for example, William
Ryan(1971)exploresthesystematic derogation
of thosewhoare poorand badlyeducatedfor
I would like to thankPhil Blumstein,Mary failing to riseabove conditions to whichsoci-
BarbaraRisman,andothermembers
Gillmore, ofthe etymaypredisposethem.
genderrolessemiflar
fortheirdetailedandinsightful
comments. Severalanonymous reviewersalso pro- Thispaperexploresa different approachto
vided helpfulcomments.Requests for reprints thisparadox,an approachthatemphasizesthe
shouldbe sentto Judith
A. Howard,Department of roleof stereotypes in guidingour reactions-
SociologyDK-40, UniversityofWashington, Seat- bothattributionaland evaluative-tovictims.
tle,WA 98195. Stereotypes are assumptions about the fixed

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 THE "NORMAL" VICTIM 271

characteristics of the membersof particular JonesandAronson,1973),physicalattractive-

socialgroups,andthusformone typeofsocial ness (Calhounet al., 1978;Deitz and Littman,
schemata.Stereotypes influence ourreactions unpublished; Seligmanet al., 1977),priorac-
to members ofthesegroups(Hamilton,1979). quaintancewiththe offender (Calhounet al.,
Those who subscribeto the stereotypeof 1976;Smithet al., 1976),and thevictim'soc-
youngblackmenas aggressive for cupation (Feldman-Summers
and ho-stile, and Lindner,
example,mayattribute theunemployment ofa 1976;Smithet al., 1976).
particular youngblack man to his presumed The impactof thesecharacteristics derives
hostiledisposition, ignoring current economic froma societalstereotype ofwomenas sexual
circumstances. objects(see MacKinnon[1983]forelaboration
The researchpresentedhere focuses on ofthesocietal" sexualization" ofgender).Sex-
sterotypesabout victims.Differentstereo- ual respectability, for example, is op-
types may apply to different types of vic- erationalized in termsof maritalstatus(e.g.,
tims.We mayexpectvictimsof certainphys- divorcedversusmarried;Jonesand Aronson,
ical impairments-paraplegics or cancervic- 1973)or of sex-related occupation(e.g., pros-
tims,for example-to be old. We may as- tituteversus nun, Feldman-Summers and
sume that those who live in povertywere Lindner,1976;Smithet al., 1976).Whilemar-
raised in disadvantagedhomes themselves. ital statusis associatedwiththe generalre-
Sex-basedstereotypes appearto be closelyre- spectability ofbothwomenandmen,connota-
lated to criminalvictimization, the topic of tions of the sexual respectability of marital
thepresentresearch.Social-psychological re- statusare reservedforwomen.Physicalat-
searchon reactionsto suchvictims, as wellas tractiveness, closelyrelatedto sexualappeal,
recentworkin victimology, pointsto a re- is anotherevaluativestandard appliedmoreto
lationship betweengenderstereotypes1 andthe womenthanto men.The attractiveness offe-
perceivedprobability of victimization, as well maleshas beenvariedfarmoreoftenthanthe
as attributions ofblameforsuchexperiences. attractiveness of males in a wide varietyof
social-psychologicalstudies (Piliavin and
Social-Psychological Approaches to Victims Unger,
forthcoming).3 This body of research
illustratesthe influenceof several gender-
Victim- characteristics.Guided primarilyby based standards andexpectations on reactions
theoriesofcausalattribution, twosetsofsocial- to victims.Unfortunately, thesestudieslimit
psychological researchhaveinvestigated influ- theirinvestigations to femalevictimsof rape.
ences on reactionsto victims.One of these Whetherstereotype-related characteristics of
areas of research,focusingon motivationalotherkindsofvictimswouldinfluence attribu-
needsoftheattributor, is notdirectly relevant tionshas notbeen determined.
to the influence of stereotypes about victims Stereotypesand attributions.While limited,
and thusis notconsideredfurther.2 thesestudiesof victimcharacteristics pointto
A secondset of researchfocuses-onthein- theimportance of stereotypes forunderstand-
fluenceofvictimcharacteristics on attributionsingreactions to victims.Severalmajortheories
of blame.The circumstances of victimizationof attribution also pointto theimportance of
employed inthisresearcharenarrow:The vic- assumedactorcharacteristics in accounting for
timis femaleand sexualassaultis thecontext laypersons'analysesof action.Kelley (1973)
ofvictimization ineachoftherelevantstudies. suggests thatstereotypes formone setofcausal
Characteristics investigated inthesestudiesin- schemata-assumed patternsofdatathatguide
cludesexualrespectability (Feldman-Summersattribution. Societalstereotypes are also impli-
and Lindner,1976;Fuleroand Delara, 1976; cated in Jonesand McGillis'(1976)theoryof
correspondent inference. Accordingto Jones
and McGillis(1976),whenan actor'sbehavior
I "Sex" refers to thephysiologicalcategoriesfe- is consistent
withpriorexpectations (expecta-
maleandmale."Gender"refersto thesociocultural tions that derivein part fromstereotypes),
expectations associatedwithsex. thereis no basis forinferring distinctive char-
2 Motivations oftheattributorhavebeenidentifiedacter traits.Stereotype-disconfirming behav-
as key influences on attributionsof blameto the iors,however,may lead to inferences about
victimsof accidentalharmdoing. The greaterone's
need to believe the worldis just (Lerner,1980)
(Walster,1966)and theless person- 3 The choiceto limitthisindependent
or controllable variableto
ally relevantthe consequencesof victimization stimuliof one sex mayhave severalexplanations.
(Shaver,1970),themoreblameone is likelyto at- Biasesoftheresearchers themselves,orresearchers'
tributeto thevictimofaccidentalharmdoing.While assumptions aboutthebiasesoftheirsubjectscould
of eachaccountforthispattern.
thesetheoriesare not relevantto the influence Whileneither explana-
stereotypes, to someoftheresults tionis verifiable
theyarepertinent the
withavailabledata,eachreflects
obtained,and thusare notedbelow. impactof societalstereotypes.

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 272 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY

actor dispositions.Consistentwiththis-rea- crimescript,reactionsto thisvictimmayfol-

soning,McCauleyet al. (1980) suggestthat low semiautomatically. Both theoryand re-
nonstereotypic actionindicates thattheactoris searchin criminology suggestthatvictimsex
not representative of his or her "class of may be one important element of the
people." stereotypeof crimevictims.5In a reviewof
Whydo we relyon stereotypes? Hamilton victimtypologies, forexample,Schafer(1974)
(1979)suggeststhatrelianceon stereotypes in- proposes that there are biological
creasestheefficiency of information process- categories-females, the old, and the
ing. Stereotype-consistent actionspermitthe young-thatare excessivelyproneto becom-
perceiverto base his or her reactionson a ing victimsof crime.These assumptions are
ready-made causal schema,accordingto Kel- consistent withpublicperceptions of vulnera-
ley(1973),andto curtailtheprocessofdispo- bilityto crime.Bothwomenand theaged ex-
sitionalinference,accordingto Jones and pressmuchhigherlevelsoffearofcrimethan
McGillis(1976),in bothcases avoidingmore menor thoseinyounger age cohorts(Johnson
complexinformation processing. and Wasielewski,1982; Warr,unpublished).
Stereotypes are thususefulcognitiveshort Actualincidenceratesof victimization, how-
cutsinmanysocialsituations. Researchon the ever,do notmatchthesepatterns.The abso-
parallelnotionof eventschemata-scripts- luteincidenceofcrimesagainsttheelderlyand
suggests,however,thattheremaybe coststo womenis lowerthanthe incidenceratesof
overreliance on such variables.Langeret al. crimesagainstyoungmales(Hindelanget al.,
(1978)demonstrated thatpeopleignorepoten- 1978;Skoganand Maxfield,1981).6Thuspar-
tiallycriticalinformation whenthestructure of ticularindividual characteristics
areassociated
a situationis consistentwithpriorexpecta- withperceived, ratherthanactual,potentialfor
tions.4Whenthe stereotype in questioncon- victimization.
cernsa social group,thepotentialcosts may Sex differences in perceivedpersonalvul-
entailinequitable treatment ofan individual on nerabilityto crime,however,do notmeanthat
the basis of his or her membership in this sex is partof a generalstereotype aboutvic-
group. timsof personalcrime.Whilefindings of the
Interestingly, a parallelconceptis foundin experimentalresearch on victim charac-
the criminological literature.The "normal teristicsare consistentwiththis possibility,
crime"refersto a set of characteristics iden- onlyreactionsto femalevictims havebeenex-
tifiedby law enforcement andjustice system amined.The necessarycomparisonof reac-
personnelas typicalof a particularcrime tionsto male versusfemalevictimshas not
(Sudnow,1965).The normalcrimeis analo- been conducted.Moreover,thesestudiesdo
goustoa crimescript.Paralleling thefunctions notindicatewhether genderstereotypes influ-
of stereotypes and scripts,consensualdefini- ence reactionsto victims-female or male-of
tionofnormalcrimesis thought toenhancethe varioustypesofcrimes.Pastresearchfocuses
efficiency ofthelegalprocess.Whenthechar- on rape, a crimeto whichvictimsex might
acteristicsof a specificcase approximate the quitereasonablybe consideredpertinent. The
normalcrime,thiscase can be processedmore presentstudythusinvestigates theinfuence of
efficiently,oftenavoidingthetimeandcostsof victimsex on perceptions of thelikelihoodof
a courttrial(Sudnow,1965).Not surprisingly,twotypesof victimization, as wellas on both
thereare parallelcosts to relianceon crime attributional and evaluativereactionsto both
scripts.Individualizing victiminformation may femaleand male victims.
be ignored,forexample,whena case closely
approximates the profileof a normalcrime HYPOTHESES
(Kunreuther, unpublished;Swigertand Far-
rell,1977). Likelihoodof Victimization
Victimcharacteristics formone clusterof Hypothesis1: Women are perceivedas
elementsof the normalcrime.To the extent morelikelyto be victimized thanmen.
thata specificvictim profile is consistent
witha
5 Preliminary ofresearchI amconducting
findings
on crimestereotypes supportthisassertion.Eighty-
assumptions
4 Scripts, abouttheexpectedbehav- fourpercent ofa groupofstudent ratersthoughtthe
ioralsequencesofsocialevents,operateverymuch victimofa robbery was verylikelyto be a woman.
Whena situation
like stereotypes. appearsto fita Just3% saidthevictimofa robbery was verylikely
script, performing
we behavesemiautomatically, the to be a man.
scriptedsequenceofactions"mindlessly," foregoing 6 Identifying ratesis notori-
actualvictimization
information processing(Langeret al., 1978).Only ouslydifficult
(Schneider,1981).Crimeswithcertain
whena situationis novel or requiresan unusual situational profiles-domestic violence, for
degreeofeffort attendtotheavailable example-areless likelyto be reported
do we actively to thepolice
information. thanothertypesof crimes.

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 THE "NORMAL" VICTIM 273

Hypothesisone proposesthatpatternsof avoidability offuture victimization.Attribution

perceivedlikelihood ofvictimization, averaged to specificbehaviorssuch as walkinghome
acrossseveraltypesof crimes,contradict ac- alone suggeststhat futurevictimization is
tualincidenceratesofcriminal victimization.7avoidable.These typesof blameparallelgen-
Surveyfindings of sex differences in fearof derstereotypes. The lackofcontrolassociated
personalvictimization are not equivalentto with characterological factorsis consistent
generalexpectations of sex differences in vul- withfemale-stereotypic traits,whilethepres-
nerability to crime. Prevailing gender ence of controlassociatedwithbehavioris
stereotypes suggest,however,thatsuch mis- consistent withmale-stereotypic traits.
perceptions maybe common.Recentempirical Hypothesis 4: Femalevictimsof sexualas-
studiesof genderstereotypes suggestthatfe- saultare predictedto receivehigherattribu-
males are perceivedby bothsexes as weak, tions of global and characterological blame
vulnerable,influenceable,submissive,irra- thanthreeothertypesof victims-female vic-
tional,excitable,and so forth(Broverman et timsof nonsexualassaultand malevictimsof
al., 1972;Wardand Balswick,19.78).Men,on sexualor nonsexualassault.
the otherhand,are perceivedas aggressive, Because sexualityis one ofthekeycompo-
independent, dominant, logical,decisive,and nents of stereotypesof women (Clark and-
competitive. If genderstereotypes influence Lewis, 1977; MacKinnon,1983), crimesin-
perceptions of the likelihoodof criminalvic- volvingsexuality arelikelyto heighten thesali-
timization, womenshouldbe perceivedby re- ence of genderstereotypes. Increasesin the
spondents ofbothsexes as morevulnerable to salienceof gender,in turn,shouldmaximize
personalcrimethanmen. the impactof this variableon attributions
(Taylorand Fiske, 1978).
Attributions ofBlame Hypothesis 5: The effects ofvictimsex pro-
posed in hypotheses 2-4 are predictedto be
Hypothesis 2: Higherlevelsofglobalblame stronger amongrespondents withtraditional
areattributed to femalethanto malevictims of gender-role attitudes thanamongrespondents
identicalcrimes,controlling forthe effectof withegalitarian gender-role attitudes.
perceivedassaultlikelihoodon attributions. The influence ofvictimsex on attributions of
Assuming thatwomenareperceivedas more blameis hypothesized to be a function of re-
likelyto be victimized thanmen,theymaybe spondent'sown standardsforthebehaviorof
heldmoreresponsible thanmenforbeingvic- womenand men.Thusthepatterns ofattribu-
timized.Moreglobalblamewouldthusbe at- tionspredicted above are likelyto be stronger
tributed tofemalethanto malevictims.Ifsuch amongthosewho endorsetraditional as op-
differences in attributions of blameto female posed to egalitarian gender-role attitudes.
versusmale victimsare due to differences in
perceivedvulnerability to crime,controllingEvaluations of Victims
forthesedifferential perceptions shouldelimi-
natethesex difference in attributions as well. Evaluationsofvictims mayfollowfromtheir
If societalconceptions of genderstructure at- victimization. Stereotypesmay exert more
tributions ofblame,however,femalesmayre- directinfluenceon evaluationsthan on at-
ceive higherlevelsof blamethanmales,over tributions of blame,because attributions are
and above theeffectofdifferences in theper- likelyto be moreconstrained byrulesoflogic,
ceivedlikelihoodof criminal assault. or at least psycho-logic(Nisbettand Ross,
Hypothesis 3: Morecharacterological blame 1980).Evaluativereactions toactors,however,
is attributed to femalethanto male victims, have receivedalmostno empiricalattention
whilemorebehavioralblameis attributed to (althoughsee Burt and Albin, 1981). Four
malethanto female'victims. typesof evaluationswere measuredin this
The distinction betweencharacterologicalstudy:generalpositivity; two dimensions re-
blame and behavioralblame proposed by lated to genderstereotypes-foolishness and
Janoff-Bulman (1979)is pertinent to theinflu- potency; and the perceived femininity/
enceofvictimsex. Attribution ofvictimizationmasculinity of thevictim.
to characterological factors, whichincludeen- Hypothesis6: Victimevaluationsare hy-
duringand stabledispositions such as a vic- pothesizedto varybyvictimsex as follows:(a)
tim's general passivity, implies the un- Femalevictimsare ratedas higherthanmales
on victimization-related, "feminine"charac-
7 The following are the ratesreportedin 1981(U.S. teristics;
(b) victim sex does not influence
Departmentof Justice, 1983): robbery(female vic- ratingsof victimson "masculine"or neutral
tims, 5/1000;males, 10/1000);assault (females, 18/ characteristics; (c) male victimsare ratedas
1000; males, 36/1000); and rape (females, 2/1000; masculine, femalevictimsas feminine.
males, too few to report). Those characteristicsconsidered to be

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 274 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY

stereotypicof femalesare consistentwith injuries. Thusthesituations approximated both

beingvictimized. Thuswhilebothfemaleand the"normalrape"andthe"normalrobbery."10
male victimsmaybe consideredfoolish,pas- Victimsex,respondent sex,andassaulttype
sive, or weak, women who are victimized varied between subjects. Assault situation
should be rated as particularlystrongon variedwithinsubjects.Anyone subjectthus
female-typed traitssuchas these.The victimi- saw twointerviews, one witha hitchhiker and
zationof mencontradicts stereotypic behav- one witha jogger,bothofwhichinvolvedvic-
ioralexpectations. Male victims areunlikely to timsofthesamesexwhoexperienced thesame
be perceivedas strongon male-typed traits typeofassault. 1I1After viewing eachinterview,
such as aggressiveness,strength,or pur- subjectscompleteda questionnaire thatas-
posefulness,erasingsex differences on such sessedattribution abouttheassaultandevalu-
ratings thatmight obtainotherwise. The effect ationsof thevictim.
of victim sex on ratings of femininity/
masculinity followsfromsimplelogic. AttributionMeasures
Hypothesis7: The moreblameis attributed
to the victim,the morenegativethe general Two measures of attributions were em-
evaluationof thevictim. ployed.On the first,the measureof global
Simplecognitiveconsistency underliesthis blame,participants wereaskedtoindicateon a
prediction. Negativeevaluationsand attribu- nine-point scalehowmuch"youthink thisman
tionsof blameare consistent cognitions. [woman]was to blame" (1 = notat all; 9 =
almostentirely).On thesecondmeasure,sub-
METHOD jectswereaskedtoattribute blametoa number
of morespecificfactors,usingthesamenine-
Subjects and Procedure point response scale. These items were
Eightymale and 80 femaleundergraduate selectedfromtwo sources,one a studyof
studentsparticipated in thisstudyforcredit. paroleboardexperts'explanations ofcausesof
Each student viewed two five-minute criminal offenses (Carroll,1979),andtheother
videotapedinterviewsostensiblybetweena a studyofpublicanalysisofcrime(Kidderand
police detectiveand an assault victim.One Cohn, 1979). Principalcomponentsanalyses
interview concerned an assaultthatoccurredin and an orthogonalrotationof responsesto
a hitchhiking situation, theother,an assaultin theseitemsyieldedtwovictim-related factors
a joggingsituation.8 The scriptsaveraged1100 in each situation (see Table 1).12
wordsin length. The firstof thesefactorsis labeledbehav-
Therewerefourvariations ofeachofthetwo ioral blame. The components of this
scripts,including severalsentenceswhichma- dimension-thevictim's"not tryingto es-
nipulatedassault type(rape versusrobbery) cape," "not fightingback," and "looking
and referencesto victimsex.9 The assault scared"-refer to specific behaviors. The
descriptionswere consistent with social meaningof thesecondfactor,labeledcharac-
stereotypes aboutsuchevents,e.g., theassail- terological blame,is moreambiguous.Of the
antwas maleand a stranger to thevictim,the fouritemsthatfallon thisfactor,thevictim's
assaultoccurredoutdoors,use of a weapon "trusting nature"mostclearlyrefersto char-
was threatened, andthevictimsustainedsome acter,to an enduringand stabledisposition.
The victim's"poorjudgment"and "careless-
ness" are each termsthatmay implyeither
8 There were several rationalesfor employing stabledispositions or moresituationally spe-
these two particularassault situations.First,the cificcharacteristics ofthevictim.Bothterms,
videotapescriptswereconstructed on thebasis of however,do denote victimcharacteristics
interviews withactual victimswho reportedinci- ratherthanbehaviors.The fourth item-"the
dents that occurredin such situations(Russell, factthatthevictim was jogging/hitchhiking"-
1975).Second, the preliminary data mentioned in
footnote5 suggestthatbothof thesesituations are
perceivedas circumstances in whichsuch assaults
arelikely.Third,one situationis genderneutral
(jog- 10The interview scriptsmaybe obtaineddirectly
ging),whiletheothersituation mayim-
(hitchhiking) fromtheauthor.
plicategenderstereotypes. Iftheeffects oftheinde- 1I Subjectswereassignedrandomly and in equal
pendentvariablesare similarin bothsituations the numbers to each cell ofthissixteen-cell
design(two
theoretical statementis mademorepowerfully. levelseach ofvictimandrespondent sex,twotypes
9 One maleactorplayedthemalevictimin both of assault,and twoordersof scriptpresentation).
joggingassaults(rapeand robbery). A secondmale 12 Each item was assignedtothefactoronwhichit
actorplayedthevictimin bothhitchhiking assaults. hadthehighest loading,abovea cutoff pointof .45.
Parallelsegments involvedtwofemaleactors.Thus Score,son thesescales consistedof a subject'sre-
thesecombinations ofthesex of victimand assault sponsesaveragedoverall equallyweighted compo-
situationareconfounded withtheactualvideotapes. nentitems.

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 THE "NORMAL" VICTIM 275

and EvaluationFactors
Table 1. Attribution
Hitchhiking Jogging
Blame
Character poorjudgment .811 .771
action(hitch/jog) .844 .580
carelessness .838 .758
trusting
nature .713 .628
X= 4.052 X=3.790
BehaviorBlame nottryto escape .835 .848
,notfight
back .746 .792
lookingscared .545 .456
X= 2.659 X=2.937
Evaluation kind/cruel .407 .652
reputable/not
reputable .639 .529
moral/immoral .729 .803
sane/insane .695 .674
clean/dirty .675 .692
good/bad .850 .819
rational/irrational .504 .406
X= 3.706 X=3.804
Potency aggressive
aggressive/not .664 .680
strong/weak .641 .700
fast/slow .657 .669
active/passive .613 .338a
stable/changeable .284a .467
purposeful
purposeful/not .178a .510
X= 2.320 X=2.828
Foolishness foolish/wise .716 .774
.897 .710
careless/careful X= 1.375 X=1.406
Gender masculine/feminine .607 .622
large/small .700 .865
X= .982 X=.838
a This itemwas notincludedin therelevantfactor.

refersto an action. What distinguishes this mate sexual contact(AttitudesTowardHet-

itemfromthebehavioral blameitemsis a focus erosexualBehavior[ATHB]).13
on thevictim'schoiceto engagein theaction,
ratherthanon theactionitself.Whilethechar- Script Perceptions
acterologicallabel thus is not ideal, it is
adopted as a reasonabledescriptorof this Subjects were asked to rate the overall
dimension. likelihood scale,an
oftheassaultona ten-point
ofthelikelihood
indicator The
ofvictimization.
Evaluation Measures of each assault
seriousnessand believability
were evaluated on six bipolar seven-point
Victimevaluationswere measuredon a scales: serious/not serious,severe/notsevere,
number ofbipolaradjectivepairs,presented and believable/not
in important/trivial; believ-
a seven-point semanticdifferential format(a able, probable/improbable,and true/nottrue.
procedurerecommended by Burtand Albin, Scores were summedwithineach of the two
1981).A principal
components analysisandan setsof scales.
orthogonal ofresponsesto theseitems
rotation
yieldedfourfactorsin each situation-general Analysis
evaluation, potency, foolishness. and
femininity/masculinity(see Table 1). Analysesof covariancewereconductedon
the three measures of attributions to the
AttitudeMeasures victim-global,characterologicaland behav-
ioralblame.Perceivedseriousnessand likeli-
Two measuresofgender-role attitudeswere hood of the assault were employed as
employed, theAttitudes TowardWomenscale
(AWS: Spenceet al., 1973)and a scale devel-
oped to assess attitudesabout heterosexual 13 See Howard (1984) for furtherinformation
conductranging fromthecasual date to inti- aboutthisscale.

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 276 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY

forreasonsnotedbelow,whilevic-
covariates, ofBlame
Attributions
timand respondent sex and assaulttypewere
the independentvariables. These analyses Victimsex. More globalblamewas attrib-
wereperformed on theattributionsobtainedin utedtofemalethantomalevictims, controlling
andjog- forperceivedassaultlikelihood, as predictedin
eachofthetwosituations, hitchhiking
ging,as well as on the attributionssummed hypothesis two(see Table 2). Moreblamewas
across both situations.Analysesof variance also attributed tothecharacter ofa femalethan
werealso conducted onthefourtypesofvictim ofa malevictim.Thispattern reversedforbe-
evaluations. havioralblame, consistentwith hypothesis
three:moreblamewas attributed to the be-
haviorof male thanof femalevictims.(This
RESULTS difference was notsignificant in thehitchhik-
ScriptPerceptions ingsituation.)
Assault type x victimsex. Femalerapevic-
Rapes wereperceivedas moreseriousthan timsdid notreceivesignificantly moreblame
robberies in both situations: hitchhiking thanthethreeothertypesofvictims,thecon-
(F(1,159) = 26.36,p<.001; X rape = 5.51;X trastpredicted four,on anyofthe
inhypothesis
robbery = 4.86); jogging (F(1,159) = 24.54, measuresofblame.Mostblamewas attributed
p<.001; X rape = 5.47; X robbery = 4.80). to femalerobberyvictims on thetwomeasures
Because eventseriousnesshas been foundto of blame in the hitchhiking situation:global
influence attributionsofblame(Walster,1966), blame (t(156) = 3.04, p<.01); and charac-
perceivedassault seriousnesswas used as a terologicalblame (t(156)= 3.17,p<.01). In-
covariateinthefollowing analyses.Therapeof deed, in thejoggingsituation less blamewas
a malewas notperceivedas significantly less attributed to thebehaviorof femalerape vic-
believablethanthe threeothertypesof vic- timsthanto thebehavioroftheothertypesof
timization,a keytestoftheeffectiveness ofthe victims(t(156)=-2.01, p<.05).
assaulttexts. Respondentsex. Severalunpredicted effects
of respondent sex wereobtained.Femalesat-
Likelihoodof Victimization tributed moreglobalblame(sums,F(1, 140)=
4.67,p <.05) andmorecharacterological blame
As predictedin hypothesisone, females to thevictimthanmalesdid(sums,F(1,140) =
werejudgedmorelikelythanmalesto be vic- 5.27, p<.05). In thejoggingsituation, males
timsof an assault: hitchhiking (F(1, 159) = 7.93, attributed morebehavioralblameto thevictim
p<.01; X female = 6.06; X male = 5.24); jog- thanfemalesdid(F(1,159) = 6.63, p<.05). Re-
ging (F(1,159) = 12.53, p<.001; X female = spondent andvictimsex also interacted intheir
6.21;X male= 5.15).Perceivedlikelihood was effects to thevictim'sbehavior.
on attributions
also a functionofan interaction betweenvictim While femalesattributed roughlyequivalent
sex and assaulttype:hitchhiking (F(1,159) = levelsof blameto thebehavioroffemaleand
4.69, p<.05; jogging(F(1,159) = 9.02, p<.01). male victims,males attributed substantially
The rapeof a manwas perceivedas theleast moreblameto the behaviorof male thanof
likelytypeof assault,a perception consistent female victims (sums, F(1,140) = 11.01,
withincidencerates(see footnote 7). Rape ofa p<.OOl).
womanwas perceivedas themostlikelytype Gender-roleattitudes.Subjectsweredivided
ofassault.Thisperception is notinaccordwith intothirdson thetwoattitude scales,in order
incidencerates.Perceivedlikelihood oftheas- to identify subgroupswithsubstantially dif-
saultwas also employedas a covariate. ferentgender-roleattitudes (traditionals:

Table 2. Effectsof Victim Sex on Attributionsof Blame to the Victim

Situation Sums Hitchhiking Jogging
Category Category Category
Means Means Means
Dependent Variables F Male Female F Male Female F Male Female
Global Attributions 8.97** 6.06 7.54 4.46* 3.92 4.65 5.70* 2.14 2.89
CharacterAttributions 12.51*** 7.79 9.31 11.87*** 4.93 5.87 4.60* 2.86 3.44
Behavior Attributions 6.11* 7.65 6.33 3.24 3.72 3.19 9.44** 3.93 3.14
*p .05.
**p .o1.
***p .001.

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 THE "NORMAL" VICTIM 277

ATHB, n = 55; AWS, n = 48; and egalitarians: hypothesis6b. Femalevictimswereperceived

ATHB, n = 51; AWS, n = 57). Analysesof as morefoolishthanwere males,consistent
variance were conducted on attributionto the withhypothesis so onlyin
6a, butsignificantly
victim,employingvictimsex, type of assault, the hitchhiking situation(F(1,159) = 6.66,
respondent sex and gender-roleattitudes as p<.01). Female victimswere perceive'das
predictors.Those with traditionalgender-role morepotentthanweremalevictimsinthejog-
attitudes attributedmore global and charac- ging situation(F(1,159) = 8.24, p<.01). This
terologicatblame to female,than to male vic- resultcontradicts hypothesis 6b. Femaleand
tims, while those with egalitariangender-role malevictimswereratedsignificantly different
attitudestended not to differin theirattribu- on feminity/masculinity,
in theappropriate di-
tionsto male versus femalevictims.While this rectionand in bothsituations, consistent
with
pattern of attributionswas obtained consis- hypothesis F(1,159) = 179.92,
6c (hitchhiking,
tently,this interactionattainedsignificanceon p<.001; jogging,F(1,159) = 201.71,p<.001).
just two of the eight possible tests, both in- Respondent sex. Respondent sexhadseveral
volvingsubgroupson the ATHB scale: global unpredicted effectson evaluationsof thevic-
(F(1,104)= 11.49,p<.01);
blame,hitchhiking tim.Femalesratedvictims as morefoolishthan
and characterologicalblame,jogging (F(1, 104) did males (hitchhiking, F(1,159) = 6.94,
= 5.32, p<.05). Members of both attitudinal p<.01). Malesratedvictimsingeneral-as
more
subgroups attributedmore blame to the be- femininethan did females (hitchhiking,
havior of male than of female victims. In- F(1,159) = 14.40,p<.001; jogging,F(1,159) =
terestingly, thisdifferencewas strongeramong 3.61,p<.06).
those with egalitarian gender-role attitudes Assaulttype.Victimsofrapewereevaluated
than among those with traditionalattitudes, morenegatively thanwerevictimsof robbery
significantly so in thejogging situation,on the (hitchhiking,F(1,159) = 4.46,p<.05; jogging,
ATHB scale (F (1,104) = 4.62, p<.05). F(1,159) = 5.87, p<.05). Assault type in-
Parallel analyses of variance were also con- teractedwithvictimsex on perceptions ofvic-
ducted on the attributionsof those in each at- timfemininity/masculinity F(1 , 159)=
(jogging,
titude subgroup. Subjects with traditional 8.24,p<.01). Beingrapedled to higher ratings
gender-roleattitudes attributedmore global of femininitythandid beingrobbed,forboth
and characterologicalblame to female than to femaleand malevictims.
male victims, and more behavioral blame to
male than to female victims (see Table 3). 14
Victim sex influencedneitherglobal nor char- Evaluations and Attributions
acterological attributions of blame among
those with egalitarian gender-roleattitudes. Correlationsamongthe victimevaluation
Members of both subgroups attributedmore and attributionfactorsare shownin Table 4.
blame to the behavior of male than of female Because boththeattributional and evaluative
victims. reactionsvariedbyrespondent sex, thesecor-
relationsare also reportedseparatelyforfe-
maleand malerespondents. The moreglobal,
Evaluations characterological and behavioralblame at-
Victimsex. Victimsex did notinfluencegen- tributed to the victim,themorenegativethe
eral evaluations of the victim,consistentwith evaluationof thevictimin bothsituations, as
predictedin hypothesis 7. In the hitchhiking
situationthisrelationshipwas weakeramong
malerespondents thanamongfemales.Other
14 ofassaulttypeandofrespondent
Effects sexare associationswere also significant. The more
notelaborated.Assaulttypehadno effect on attribu- global, characterological,and behavioral
tionsin eithersubgroup, replicatingthe overallre- blamewas attributed to thevictim,themore
sults.Amongthosewithtraditional gender-role atti- foolishhe or she was perceivedto be. The
tudes,theeffectsof respondent sex perfectly rep- more blame attributed to the victim'sbe-
licatedtheoverallresults.Thisvariablehadno influ- havior,the less potentthe victimwas per-
ence on the attributions of those withegalitarian to be. Finally,the more global and
gender-roleattitudes.Womentendto endorsemore ceived
egalitariangender-roleattitudesthan do men, of characterologicalblame attributedto the
course,andthewomeninthisstudywereno excep- victim,themorefeminine he or she was per-
tion.The focusof thisanalysis,however,was to ceivedto be.
compareattributionsmade by thosewho endorse
egalitarian
gender-role withtheattributions
attitudes
of thosewho endorsetraditionalgender-roleatti- DISCUSSION
of respondent
tudes.(The unequaldistribution sex
across the subtypesof gender-roleattitudeswas On thebasisoftheoretical victimtypologies
controlledin conducting
theseanalyses.) as well as experimental researchon attribu-

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 278 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY

Table 3. Effectsof Victim Sex on Attributionsof Blame to the Victim WithinGender-Role Subgroups
TraditionalAttitudes EgalitarianAttitudes
Category Category
Means Means
Dependent Variable Moderator F Male Female F Male Female
Jogging
Global Blame AWS 3.71t 1.78 3.07 1.50 2.60 2.05
ATHB 23.09*** 1.81 3.55 .53 2.42 2.05
CharacterBlame ATHB 13.55*** 2.79 3.98 .00 2.88 2.94
AWS 3.90* 4.33 5.74 .13 3.00 2.87
Behavior Blame ATHB 1.64 4.23 3.64 6.10* 3.65 2.42
AWS 7.02** 4.48 3.21 8.21** 3.79 2.45
Hitchhiking
Global Blame AWS 3.57 3.39 4.83 .00 3.61 3.65
ATHB 9.01** 3.85 5.24 1.24 3.86 3.36
CharacterBlame AWS 3.90* 4.33 5.74 .20 4.67 5.05
ATWB 9.92** 4.86 6.10 .56 4.85 5.23
Behavior Blame AWS 3.97* 3.96 3.21 .93 3.28 2.70
ATHB 2.81 4.18 3.45 4.70* 3.54 2.58
*p .05.
** p .01.
p S .001.
tp= .06.

tions about victims, the victimizationof inaccurate perceptionmay reflectgender

womenwas expectedto be perceivedas more stereotypes.Stereotypes
aboutwomeninclude
likelythanthevictimizationofmen.Thispre- assumptionsabout their physical charac-
dictionwas supported.Moreover,whilesexual teristics
andsexualpropensities
(Broverman et
assaultsof menwereperceivedaccuratelyas al., 1972;Clarkand Lewis, 1977).Guidedby
theleastlikelyof thesefourtypesof assault, suchstereotypes,thesesubjectsmayhaveas-
sexualassaultsofwomenwereperceivedinac- sumedthatsexualityis prominent in the vic-
curatelyas themostlikelytypeofassault.This timizationof women.

Table 4. Correlationsof Attributionsand Evaluations: Total and by Respondent Sex

Attributions
Hitchhiking Jogging
Victim Evaluations Total Males Females Total Males Females
General Evaluation Global Blame
(1= Bad; 7 =Good) -.233** -.130 -.360*** -.127 -.136 -.139
Foolishness (1 = Foolish;
7=Not Foolish) -.471*** -.488*** -.468*** -.399*** -.288** -.480***
Gender (1 = Feminine;
7 = Masculine) -.288** -.370*** -.172 -.172 -.219* -.156
Potency (1 = Not Potent;
7 = Potent) -.078 -.162 -.026 -.048 -.125 .001
Character Blame
Evaluation - .254*** - .176 - .385*** -.153 - .257* - .079
Foolishness -.560*** -.489*** -.590*** - .467*** -.353*** -.549***
Gender - .234*** - .335*** - .276** - . 184** -.189* -.193*
Potency - .017 - .074 - .027 -.173* - .241* - .132
Behavior Blame
Evaluation - .230*** -.128 - .360*** - .275*** - .250* - .278**
Foolishness - .093 - .103 - .157 - .405*** - .438*** - .421***
Gender -.028 .116 -.131 .064 .102 .083
Potency - .263*** - .323** - .132 - .433*** - .489*** - .348***
*p .05.
**'p S .01.
*** p S .001.

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 THE "NORMAL" VICTIM 279

Attributions utilityof measuringseveraldistincttypesof

responsesto victims.
The morelikelya particular assaultwas per- The effects of victimsex on each of there-
ceivedto be, themoreblamewas attributed to mainingevaluationsappear to derive from
thevictim.As notedabove, thevictimizationgenderstereotypes. Stereotypes of"femininity"
of womenwas perceivedas morelikelythan lead directly to theperception thatfemalevic-
the victimizationof men. This difference in tims are more foolishthan male victims.15
perceivedassaultlikelihood couldthusexplain Being victimized is inconsistent with
the effectof victimsex on attributions: Sub- stereotypes ofmen.ThusI predicted no effect
jects attributed moreglobalblameto female ofvictimsex on ratingsofmale-typed charac-
thanto male victims.This sex difference in teristicssuchas potency.In thejoggingsitua-
attributions of blame remainswhen percep- tion,however,the impactof thisstereotype
tionsofassaultlikelihood arecontrolled,how- inconsistency was greaterthanexpected;in
ever,substantiating theargument thatgender fact,subjectsratedmalevictimsas less potent
stereotypes underlietheimpactof victimsex. thanfemalevictims.
Patternsofcharacterological and behavioral
blame,hypothesized on the basis of gender
stereotypes, werealso consistent withpredic- Evaluations and Attributions
tions.Subjectsattributed blameto womenin Quitelogically,negativeevaluationsof the
termsof characteristics thatconformto the victimwereassociatedwithhigher attributions
femalestereotype-thevictim'strusting na- of blame.Victimpotencywas also negatively
ture,passivity, and carelessness.Theyattrib- associated with attributionsof behavioral
utedblameto menin termsof behaviorsthat blame. Potencyimpliesbehavioralcontrol:
contradict themalestereotype-failure tofight The moreblameattributed to thevictim'sbe-
back, lookingscared, not tryingto escape. havior,therefore, thelowertheperceivedvic-
That these attributionalpatterns attain timpotency.Similarly, victimfoolishness and
significance among those who endorse femininity, moredispositional characteristics,
traditional
gender-role and failto do werepositively
attitudes, associatedwithbothglobaland
so among those with egalitarianattitudes, characterological blame.
furthercorroborates the role of gender These victimsare receiving "doubleindem-
stereotypes in producing thesepatterns. nity,"beingevaluatednegatively on certain
The patternof attributions aboutmale vic- characteristics, and attributed blame forbe-
tims is inconsistent withpriorresearchon havinginaccordwiththesecharacteristics. On
stereotypes, however.Hamilton(1979) sug- the basis of logicalone,one mightexpectan
geststhatactionsconsistent withstereotypicoppositepatternof relationships amongattri-
expectationswill be attributed to an actor's butionsandevaluations. Ostensibly, thosewho
dispositional characteristics,and thatevents are mostpotentare moreable to fendoffan
inconsistentwithstereotypes willbe attributedassailant.These actors mightbe attributed
toexternal factors.Thisanalysiswouldsuggest substantial blameforfailureto exercisetheir
thatthe blameforan assaulton a femaleis potency. Similarly,victimsrated as most
attributedto hercharacter, whileblameforan foolishmightmerittheleastblamesincethey
assaulton a male is attributed to an external are leastable to cope withan emergency. The
factor,such as the assailant,societyor fate. culturaldevaluationof "feminine"charac-
Stereotype-consistent occurrencesdo appear teristics thusappearstooverride logic.Victims
toleadtopersonattributions, as Hamiltonsug- are attributed moreblamewhentheyare per-
gests. The present results indicate that ceived as foolish,impotent, and, simply,as
stereotype-inconsistent occurrences, however, feminine.
mayalso be attributed topersonfactors, butto
noncharacterological personfactors,such as
theactor'sbehavior. CONCLUSION

Genderclearlystructures reactionsto vic-

Evaluations
tims. There are severalpossible explanations
Victimsof rape wereevaluatedmorenega-
tivelythanwerevictimsofrobbery.Although 15 The tendencyto ratefemalesas morefoolish
less blamewas attributed to victimsof rape thanmalesemerged onlyin thehitchhikingsituation,
a patternthatis also consistent
withgender-based
(nonsignificantly),and rape was perceivedas behavioralstandards.Hitchhiking,unlikejogging,is
moreseriousthanwas robbery,some stigma viewedas a riskthatwomenin particular are ex-
clearlyis associatedwithbeingraped.Thatthis pectedto avoid(Russell,1975).Failureto exercise
stigmais elicitedby measuresof evaluation thisprecautionthusleads to higherratingsof the
andnotbymeasuresofattribution pointstothe foolishnessof femalesthanof males.

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 280 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY
ofthisinfluence. Victimsex appearsto be one pectations,on judgmentsof responsibility,
elementof crimescripts,assumptionsabout moralevaluations,and sanctioning decisions.
the likelycharacteristics of varioustypesof Such questionsare criticalto theinfluence of
criminalvictimization. Womenin particular genderandothersocialconstructs onreactions
are believedto be vulnerable to victimization,to victimization.
especiallyby rape. Logic suggeststhatthose
assumedmostlikelyto be victimized are ex-
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