Factors Related to Intentions to Report a Rape

Abstract

Approximately 100 women in each of four ethnic groups (Asian, Black, Hispanic and White) completed a questionnaire in which they indicated (a) intentions to report having been raped to each of 10 potential report recipients; (b) perceived outcomes of reporting to each report recipient; and (c) perceived normative expectations to report held by family, friends, etc. It was found that (1) intentions to report varied substantially according to ethnic group membership; (2) subject‐by‐subject analyses indicated that normative expectations were typically better predictors of intentions to report than were perceived outcomes; and (3) with certain exceptions, ethnic differences existed with regard to the specific perceived outcomes that were most closely related to behavioral intentions, while the specific normative expectations that best predicted behavioral intentions tended to be the same for all four groups.