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- Title
Measuring Electronically Shared Rape Myths: Scale Creation and Correlates.
- Authors
Thulin, Elyse J.; Florimbio, Autumn Rae; Philyaw-Kotov, Meredith L.; Walton, Maureen A.; Bonar, Erin E.
- Abstract
Increased access to information online (e.g., social media) provides opportunities for exposure to rape myths (i.e., false beliefs about incidents of sexual assault). Social media, in particular, may serve a critical role in shaping rape culture. Thus, it is important to identify ways to assess online exposure to rape myths, especially given the influence online exposure may have on offline behaviors. Data were analyzed from 2,609 18–25-year-old participants (mean age = 20.9 years; 46.1% male; 71.6% White) recruited in 2017 through social media to complete an online survey on experiences and perceptions of sexual violence. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA, CFA) to evaluate the relatedness of nine items adapted to reflect rape myths posted by friends on social media. We split the sample into training (50%) and testing (50%) sets for the EFA and CFA, respectively, then evaluated the correlation between experiences of sexual violence, substance use, and social media use and exposure to online rape myths. Eigenvalues (1-factor: 5.509; 2-factor: 0.803; 3-factor: 0.704; 4-factor: 0.482), factor loadings, fit statistics (RMSEA: 0.03; CFI: 0.99; TLI: 0.99; SRMR: 0.057), interpretability, and existing theory supported a 1-factor solution, which was supported by CFA fit statistics (RMSEA: 0.021; CFI: 0.99; TLI: 0.99; SRMR: 0.038). Cronbach's alpha of the nine items was.77. Greater exposure to online rape myths was associated with greater likelihood of attempted rape perpetration (β =.052, SE =.016, p <.005), rape victimization (β =.045, SE =.009, p <.005), use of illicit drugs (β =.021, SE = 0.008, p <.05), being male (β =.017, SE =.008, p <.05), and being younger (β = −.008, SE =.002, p <.005). Our findings support assessing exposure to online rape myths, which may be important for informing sexual violence prevention and intervention efforts.
- Subjects
RESEARCH; REMOTE access networks; FRIENDSHIP; ONLINE information services; EXPERIMENTAL design; SUBSTANCE abuse; RAPE; SOCIAL media; MULTIPLE regression analysis; AGE distribution; SELF-evaluation; RESEARCH methodology; CRONBACH'S alpha; SEX distribution; PSYCHOMETRICS; SURVEYS; ATTITUDES toward sex; MYTHOLOGY; RESEARCH funding; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; SEX crimes; TEENAGERS' conduct of life; STATISTICAL correlation; DRUGS of abuse
- Publication
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2024, Vol 39, Issue 1/2, p369
- ISSN
0886-2605
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/08862605231197140