Power, Sex, and Rape Myth Acceptance: Testing Two Models of Rape Proclivity

Power and sex are thought to be important factors associated with sexual aggression. The goal of this study was to offer a dual-process model to determine how both an implicit power-sex association and explicit power-sex beliefs contribute to rape myth acceptance and rape proclivity. In Study 1, an explicit measure of power-sex beliefs was developed using a participant sample of 131 college students (54% female; age: M = 20.2 years, SD = 3.5 years). In Study 2, 108 male college students (age: M = 19.1 years, SD = 1.3 years) completed a power-sex implicit association test and three explicit measures assessing power-sex beliefs, rape myth acceptance, and rape proclivity. Two models of rape proclivity were compared. The best-fitting model showed that rape myth acceptance mediated the relationships between rape proclivity and an implicit power-sex association, as well as explicit power-sex beliefs.