Bystander Responses to Risk for Rape Perpetrated by a Friend, Acquaintance, or Stranger

Abstract

This study explored bystander responses to risk for an alcohol-facilitated rape perpetrated by a friend, acquaintance, or stranger. Undergraduates (N = 331) were randomly assigned to read 1 of 3 scenarios in which an apparently sober male friend, acquaintance, or stranger leads an intoxicated woman into a bedroom. Participants completed self-report measures of intent to directly intervene and barriers to intervention. Compared to men, women reported greater intent to help the potential victim and fewer barriers to intervention. Participant gender moderated the effect of the bystander’s relationship with the potential perpetrator on intent to confront and responsibility to intervene. Men reported more confrontation and more responsibility to intervene when perpetrators were identified as either friends or acquaintances than strangers. In contrast, women reported more confrontation when perpetrators were identified as friends than either strangers or acquaintances. Bystander education programs that address specific barriers to intervening with strangers and acquaintances could promote more frequent bystander behavior.

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