Rape prevention with college males - The roles of rape myth acceptance, victim empathy, and outcome expectancies

This study investigated the immediate impact of a video-based prevention program developed to decrease undergraduate men's potential to commit rape. Three video segments (rape myth acceptance, victim empathy, and outcome expectancies) were developed through expert consultation and focus groups. Evidence for the construct validity of each component was evaluated by examining change scores in a pilot study of 101 mate undergraduates on measures of rape myth acceptance, victim empathy, and outcome expectancies. In the main study, 102 male undergraduates were randomly assigned to either the experimental program consisting of the video-based intervention or an equivalently long, alternate video-based program judged to contain none of the experimental elements. The experimental video produced greater immediate changes on measures of rape myth acceptance, attitudes toward interpersonal violence, adversarial sexual beliefs, attraction to sexual aggression, rape empathy, and self-efficacy ratings. Limitations of this study and directions for future research with college men are discussed.