Understanding Support Providers' Views of "Helpful" Responses to Sexual Assault Disclosures: The Impacts of Self-Blame and Physical Resistance

Prior research on the factors associated with various disclosure responses has often been conducted on sexual assault victims and formal support providers, while informal helpers, who are the most common recipients of disclosures, have received far less attention. This experimental study examined potential informal helpers' views of disclosure reactions and their influence on the self-reported likelihoods of engaging in those responses. Undergraduate students at a large Canadian university (N = 239) received vignettes describing a hypothetical sexual assault disclosure that varied on victim's self-blame and physical resistance, and then rated common disclosure reactions. The results revealed that participants' perceptions of various responses were at odds with victims' experiences, with many negative responses, such as victim blame and egocentrism, viewed as equally or more helpful than positive responses, such as emotional support. Moreover, when the victim blamed herself and did not physically resist, positive responses were seen as less helpful whereas negative responses were seen as more helpful, with some notable gender differences. Regression analyses indicated that the perceived helpfulness of each response was the strongest predictor of the likelihood of providing that response. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.