Walk A Mile In Her Shoes: The Impact of (Low) Power On Blaming The Victim

Abstract

The effects of situationally-activated social power and just world beliefs on victim blame and endorsement of rape myths were examined. Male and female participants were randomly assigned to high power or low power (or served as a control) condition before they evaluated a case of sexual assault. Belief in a just world had no effect on victim blame or rape myth acceptance. Men generally blamed the victim more than did women, but the low power manipulation significantly reduced the extent to which they blamed the victim, moving them to a low level of victim blame comparable to that of women. High power did not differentially affect victim blaming relative to the control condition for men, and no condition effects were observed for women. A moderated-mediation analysis indicated that the tendency for males in the low power condition to decrease their victim blaming was significantly mediated by a decrease in their endorsement of rape myths that portray sexual assault victims as liars. The results of this study point to important implications of social power in a legal context.