Research Proposal 1

Research Proposal:
How do societys application of stereotypes towards male rape
victims on college campuses affects different aspects of
victimization (victim responsibility and reporting rates)?

Abby Callahan
Emily Lindsay
Stephanie Poget

UHON 2850: Innovation Lab I

Drs. Crittenden and Policastro
November, 2016

Research Proposal 2
INTRODUCTION
Rape is a deplorable yet prevalent crime that occurs on college campuses and affects
every demographic (Rumney, 2009). In America, approximately 1 in 71 men have reported to
having been raped in his lifetime (Black, 2011, p. 1). Frequently these rapists take the forms of
acquaintances, friends, or even significant others (Black, 2001). In fact, statistics show that
52.4% of male rapes are committed by an acquaintance of the victim, and 15.1% are committed
by a stranger to the victim (Black, 2011, p. 1-2). Men face criticisms from others after an assault
and can find themselves emasculated by the stereotypes imposed on them, like the common
thought that rape is not rape if it happens to a man (Anderson, 2007). Various factors affect the
reporting rates of males who fall victim to sexual crimes, among the most prominent being that
they often are faced with negative gender stereotypes when attempting to report (Davies and
McCartney, 2003). We will use tactics similar to those described in the paper by P. N. Rumney in
order to examine how society will apply stereotypes to male victims of rape and how that
application affects the reporting rates of individuals.
Rape is most commonly defined as: ...unlawful force against [a] person; using force
causing or likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm to any person; threatening or placing
that other person in fear that any person will be subjected to death, grievous bodily harm, or
kidnapping; first rendering that other person unconscious; or administering to that other person
by force or threat of force, or without the knowledge or consent of that person, a drug, intoxicant,
or other similar substance and thereby substantially impairing the ability of that other person to
appraise or control conduct (10 U.S. Code 920 - Art, p. 120). This definition is the one that
will be used throughout the paper, and will also be used to explain the definition of male rape.
Stereotype is defined as: something (1) always erroneous in content; a) pejorative concepts; (3)

Research Proposal 3
about groups with whom we have little/no social contact; by implication therefore, are not held
about one's own group; (4) about minority groups (or about oppressed groups); (5) simple; (6)
rigid and do not change; (7) not structurally reinforced (Perkins 1997).
LITERATURE REVIEW
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
If a man identifies as gay, the likelihood that he will be raped goes up significantly because
of the prevalence of homophobic hate crimes (Rumney, 2009). Recently a study by AbdullahKhan found a reporting rate among male victims to be from 8% to 44%(Rumney, 2009, p.
235), while others find the rate to be from 12% to 22% (Rumney, 2009, p. 235). Men give
various reasons as to why they do not report, including: not knowing that it is a crime, fear of
not being believed and concerns that sexuality may become an issue (Rumney, 2009, p. 236).
Research also shows that homosexual male rape victims are even less likely to report than
heterosexual males (Rumney, 2009). These reasons for not reporting are the same for female rape
victims not reporting, but, unfortunately, the number of rape victims continues to grow.
SOCIETYS PERCEPTION OF TYPICAL RAPE
Stereotypes are found in the world all around us and they can impact the way people treat
others and go about their everyday lives. The stereotypes about rape victims and assailants can
impact how society views rape as a whole by putting them into categories of what they define as
rape and excluding all the others that do not fit the stereotypical rape ideological mold. In
relation to rape experiences, people tend to stereotype the circumstances surrounding what
happened. These stereotypes not only impact the stigma of rape itself, but also the victims.
Stereotypes impact the victims by downplaying the horrific experiences that they suffered and by
blaming the victim for letting or asking for it to happen.

Research Proposal 4
In reality victims experiences come in many different ways, shapes, and sizes; but to the
onlooker they tend to be stereotyped and grouped together into a black and white form. Since
there is no such thing as a typical rape or typical rape victim, the stereotypes are found to be
what people think is most common among rape experiences. The typical description of a victim
is conservatively dressed, has a good reputation, has an unavoidable reason for being in that
place, fights back or is resistant of the attack, has fear of what was occurring, has emotional or
physical trauma, and was alone at the time of the attack (Anderson, 2007). The stereotype for the
victim tends to be more of the unsuspecting, good kid. Stereotypes reach far beyond just what
the victim looks like, acts like, and wears; it also can be about the circumstances of how it
happened or where it took place. The typical description of the circumstances is that it occurred
outdoors (examples; field, dark alleyway, street, shortcut, etc.), force or overpowering of the
victim, a struggle between the victim and the attacker, aggression being shown before or during
the rape, the victim being grabbed/accosted or the rape being sudden/ out of the blue, the rape
occurring at night, and the fact that a weapon was present at the time of the rape (Anderson,
2007). These circumstances seem to view rape in a negative light by making it dark and violent.
In the stereotypical rape, in male rape the attacker is more often described as a stranger
compared to female rape where the attacker is an acquaintance (Anderson, 2007). With all these
stereotypes of what a typical rape looks like, it is hard for people to wrap their brains around the
fact that the majority of rapes do not follow the same descriptive circumstances as those
stereotyped rapes do.
However, a persons perception of a typical rape can also be influenced by their own
personal ideas of traditional gender roles and how strongly they adhere to or believe in them.
Traditional gender roles can be viewed as a stereotype because deviating from them can affect

Research Proposal 5
the perception of a rape. It has been found that individuals who adhere less to traditional gender
roles are less likely to blame the victim while the opposite was found for those who do live by
these stereotypical roles (Simonson, 1999). Unlike Rumneys study, it was found in Simonsons
study that gender did not act as an indicator to any particular perception of rape other than the
contribution of their gender role stereotypes.
VICTIM BLAMING
Male rape victims receive much scrutiny, just like women rape victims; however, research
shows that homosexual males and heterosexual females are less likely to blame male rape
victims (Davies and McCartney, 2003). Researchers Michelle Davies and Samantha McCartney
(2003) also found that heterosexual males, especially hyper masculine males, are more likely to
support rape myths. Their study shows that heterosexual men made the most anti-victim
judgments and that gay men were the least likely to believe rape myths (Davies and
McCartney, 2003, p. 396) overall. According to the study, heterosexual women fall in between
the two male groups when they consider the male victim (p. 396). Davies and McCartney also
write that most heterosexual males would blame a homosexual victim more because they would
be less able to identify with or perceive personal similarities with a gay victim (Davies and
McCartney, 2003, p. 397). Heterosexual and homosexual males do not see eye to eye when rape
is involved; however, researchers Sandy White and Niwako Yamawaki (2009) write that male
rape victims suffer from loss of gender identity (i.e., they no longer feel masculine) or
confusion about their sexual identity (p. 1116). Some heterosexual male rape victims begin to
believe that they could actually be homosexual after the incident. Research claims that victims
question if the perpetrator perceived them as homosexual, and wonder if it could be true (White
and Yamawaki, 2009). Both studies demonstrate how victim blaming can factor into preventing

Research Proposal 6
male rape reports. Heterosexual males do not want to report because they do not want to be
perceived as homosexual, and homosexual victims are afraid that police stations and help centers
are homophobic. Victim blaming prevents justice for both heterosexual and homosexual victims,
and it will continue to affect reportings if society refuses to accept that rape is still rape; No
matter what the victims sexual preference is.
As mentioned before, men are more likely than women to hold victims responsible for their
attacks, even if they do believe the perpetrator was also responsible or in the wrong. Researchers
claim that this is because they tend to assume that the victim somehow provoked the attack and
caused it to take place (Whatley and Riggio, 1993). This tendency is exacerbated if the subject
feels that the victim was dressed provocatively, was promiscuous, was unattractive, acquainted
with the attacker, or initiated the date/interaction (Whatley and Riggio, 1993, 503). Men also
tend to believe more in Lerners Just World theory that states: everything happens for a reason
and you deserve whatever happens to you(Whatley and Riggio, 1993, 503). This, according to
the researchers, helps explain why men also blame the victim at higher rates than women
(Whatley and Riggio, 1993). Men tend to believe that they have to be the strongest version of
themselves that they can be, and that it is impossible for men to be raped. This rape myth
continues to cause problems in reporting numbers, and thus hinders further study on male rape
cases.
FACTORS AGAINST REPORTING
With society being critical about everything a person does, it is hard for someone to come
out and report rape, especially with it being such an emotionally traumatizing event to happen to
a person. When a victim comes out saying that they were raped, society tends to jump on them
and accuse them of it being their fault or that they could have done something to prevent it.

Research Proposal 7
Society has set a standard for everyone to follow when it comes to rape. Society has made it hard
for people to come out and say that they have been raped and because of this most people do not
think that there is a need for them to report it if society thinks that there is no need. Society has
changed their way of thinking over time, but the same concept still stays the same and that is that
people do not accept the fact that victims should not be blamed for the rape and be encouraged to
report their experiences and start the healing process.
There are many reasons that males do not report their rape experiences, but there are four
main ones that are relevant to nearly all victims in some form. The first being that males view
reporting rape and rape itself as a threat towards their masculinity and self-concept (Pino and
Meier, 1999). This means that if males report, they think they will lose more of their masculinity
because they should have been tough enough to fight off the attacker or it would have made them
less of a man if they did not want to have sex in the first place. Secondly, victims must first see
themselves as a rape victim before they feel the need to report it. If victims experienced a high
level of injuries and violence, then they are more likely to view themselves as rape victims (Pino
and Meier, 1999). In order for a victim to report a sexual assault, they must first believe there is
something to report. The number of reported sexual assaults is heavily impacted by this fact,
knowing that there are many victims out there who have not reported because they truly believe
that what they experienced was not qualified as rape or sexual assault. Thirdly, rape is a
traumatic event that leads to emotional instability and humiliation, negative society pressed
stigma of victims, and the unethical and insensitive treatment by medical and police staff (Pino
and Meier, 1999). If a victim feels like they will be shamed or treated differently after reporting
what happened to them, they are less likely to continue speaking out about it and just keep it to
themselves. Lastly, males view the rape victim resources as being geared towards females only,

Research Proposal 8
rather than both males and females (Scarce, 1997). There are many outlets for rape victims to
utilize, whether they are male or female, but in the end it is ultimately up to the victim to reach
out for help and report their experiences. Males have a lower rate of reporting rape than females
do and these factors tend to hinder whether or not male victims report their experiences.
HYPOTHESIS
For the purpose of this paper we hypothesize that in our current society, which is based
on a patriarchal system, men are more likely to apply negative stereotypes to male rape victims
than their female counterparts. Prior research shows that Lerners hypothesis of a just world,
which states that everything happens for a reason and individuals deserve what happens to them,
is applicable in this context and that more men ascribe to this hypothesis than women (Whatley
and Riggio, 1993). Because of this, men are more likely to find the victim responsible for his/her
own assault at least to some degree, even if they also believe the assailant is responsible. It is
also likely that the male victims will, as a consequence, report their assaults less for fear of
experiencing this type of social alienation. As far as research questions go the research will aim
to answer: how do college students view male rape? How do certain rape scenarios impact
students perceptions of rape? How do college students interpret and judge certain real world
rape encounters, that could happen to them? How does only using data from college students
impact the research data that is collected? How does hyper masculinity and homophobia affect
UTC's student population and the support of rape myths?
METHODS
DATA/SAMPLE
The experiment for this paper will be directed at university students without
discrimination to year, class standing, gender, or sexual orientation. This population is

Research Proposal 9
particularly important for the purposes of this experiment because of its focus on male
victims of rape on college campuses. Ideally the sample size will equal at least 80% of
the student body in order to obtain results from as many different demographics as
possible within the campus. In addition to an online call for student participants via the
UTC email service, posters advertising the experiment. The posters will feature the time,
date, and location that students can appear to participate in the study. The flyers will be
posted in areas frequented by students such as the University Center, Crossroads, the
Womens Center, library, etc. The hope in posting the flyers in these locations is to reach
as much of the student body as possible. The posters in addition to the email invitation to
participate will hopefully garner the attention of the desired 80% of the student body.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design that will be used for this paper will be a scenario-based
survey. This means that student participants will be provided with a scenario with a few
different variations to assess the different stereotypes and how they might affect a
students perception of the victim. Participants will then be put into the victims place by
asking them: if this were to happen to you, what would you do? There will be no
secondary-data analysis used.
The most important and relevant part of this design is its openness to the thoughts
and views of the participant; the scenario is provided but the participant is free to
interpret and judge the situation as they would a real-life event. It will provide questions
in the form of multiple choice questions, ranking options, and short answer questions
pertaining to various societal stereotypes. This will give participants the ability to give

Research Proposal 10
their thoughts on the scenario as clearly as possible rather than relying on yes and no
questions.
The weakness of this design is the methods by which students are being reached.
Although the posters are being placed in the best locations possible and the emails are
supposed to reach every student, there is no way to guarantee that every student in the
university will know about the study. There is also no way to force the students to
participate; however, there may be a way to provide incentives to encourage students to
take part while ensuring that no incentive is unreasonable.
MEASURES
The dependent variable of this design is stereotypes. The independent variables
that may influence these stereotypes are race, ethnicity, religion, age, and gender;
participants will be asked to provide this information for categorization of data at the end
of the experiment. The control variable in this experiment is the fact that all participants
will be students of the university. Faculty and staff will not be permitted to participate in
the survey. Although a small portion of the student body is made up of older students, a
majority of UTC students are between the ages of 18 and 23, meaning that the range of
ages among participants will be fairly consistent with a few outliers.
LIMITATIONS
The biggest limitation of this experiment and the research design is that not all
backgrounds may be represented in the results. Although students can be incredibly
diverse, a majority of the UTC student body is white/non-hispanic. This limits the
potential cultural background which can affect the stereotypical ideals of the participants.
However, this is simply a limit of the nature of the experiment. In order to survey the

Research Proposal 11
students of this particular university, the cultural and racial backgrounds of the students
are a factor that cannot be changed, only taken into account.

Research Proposal 12
REFERENCES
Anderson, I. (2007). What is a typical rape? Effects of victim and participant gender in female
and male rape perception. British Journal of Social Psychology, 46(1), 225-245.

Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., &
Stevens, M.R (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey
(NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1-113.

Davies, M., & McCartney, S. (2003). Effects of gender and sexuality on judgements of victim
blame and rape myth acceptance in a depicted male rape. Journal of Community &
Applied Social Psychology, 13(5), 391-398.

Perkins, Tessa (1997). Rethinking Stereotypes. The Media Studies Reader, 75-85.

Pino, N. W., & Meier, R. F. (1999, June). Gender Differences in Rape Reporting. Sex Roles,
40(11), 979-990.

Rumney, P. N. (2009). Gay male rape victims: Law enforcement, social attitudes and barriers to
recognition. The International Journal of Human Rights, 13(2-3), 233-250.

Research Proposal 13
Scarce, M. (1997). Same-Sex Rape of Male College Students. Journal of American College
Health, 45(4), 171-173.

Simonson, Kelly & Subich, Linda Mezydlo. (1999). Rape Perceptions as a Function of GenderRole Traditionality and Victim-Perpetrator Association. Sex Roles, 40(7), 617-634.

Whatley, M. A., & Riggio, R. E. (1993). Gender Differences in Attributions of Blame for Male
Rape Victims. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8(4), 502-511.

White, S., & Yamawaki, N. (2009). The Moderating Influence of Homophobia and Gender-Role
Traditionality on Perceptions of Male Rape Victims. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, 39(5), 1116-1136.

10 U.S. Code 920 - Art. 120. Rape and sexual assault generally. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08,
2016.