Effects of salience of rape on sex role attitudes, trust, and self‐esteem in non‐raped women

Abstract

Abstract Women who thought about rape prior to answering questions about themselves reported lower self‐esteem, stronger belief in traditional sex roles, and lower trust in other persons than women who were not induced to think about rape. Achievement motivation and locus of control, on the other hand, were not affected by the salience of rape. The data suggest that rape has an intimidating effect on non‐raped women as previously suspected in feminist literature, although not all variables suspected may be affected.