Self-blame commonly follows unwanted sexual experiences (USEs), and women with USE histories are twice as likely to be sexually revictimized (SRV). Moreover, a recent prospective investigation revealed that post-USE self-blame increases women’s SRV risk over 4.2-months. Two studies are presently conducted to investigate the underpinnings of post-USE blame among victims and observers.
In Study 1, the USE interviews of 144 college women are content analyzed. Study 1 results support an Experiential Processing Model of SRV. That is, a measure combining Negative Emotionality and Perceived Preventability evidenced in women’s USE narratives prospectively predicts SRV, an effect that is mediated by post-USE self-blame. The Causal element of the proposed model is not supported.
Study 2 is a supplemental experiment, intended to empirically test the notion that context factors influence victim blame attributions. A general sample of 124 female undergraduates read a prototypic USE scenario, within which context factors (i.e., effectiveness of sociolegal context in deterring/preventing USEs, male scenario target’s USE propensity) are experimentally manipulated among conditions. Study 2 results support a hypothesized interaction effect. Specifically, when a high-propensity male scenario target perpetrates a USE, a female scenario target is blamed to a greater extent within a sociolegal context perceived to be ineffective in deterring/preventing USEs and holding perpetrators to account.
Taken together, the present studies further our understanding of 1) “real-life” intraperson factors fueling post-USE self-blame and SRV vulnerability among college women and 2) extraperson context factors that converge in affecting USE victim-blame attributions among a sample of college women observers.