NCJ Number
212886
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 20 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2005 Pages: 305-311
Date Published
October 2005
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study explored gender biases in attributions of responsibility in abusive victimization scenarios.
Abstract
The findings of the study indicate that the attribution of responsibility assigned to the victim and to the assailant fluctuated as a result of their gender as well as the gender of the participant judging the scenarios. The findings also lend support to the suggestion that the gender of all parties involved may be a crucial factor during the investigation and litigation of abuse cases. In short, attributions of responsibility of the assailants were influenced by the gender of the assailant, the gender of the victim, and the gender of the participant. Attributions of responsibility of the victims were influenced by the gender of the victim and the gender of the participant. Moreover, when attributions were made on the basis of memory rather than from narrative descriptions, gender stereotypes influenced attributions. Research design involved varying the gender of the participant, gender of the assailant, and gender of the victim to analyze gender biases in attributions of guilt. Participants were 32 male and 32 female college students who voluntarily participated for course credit. Participants judged scenarios depicting verbally and physically abusive interactions between two characters of varied gender; some scenarios were presented with narrative descriptions while others had to be judged without the narratives. Tables, appendix, references