Abstract

This study aimed to examine negative social attitudes toward male victims of sexual violence in South Korea and the psychological processes underlying these attitudes. In Study 1, participants were presented with sexual violence scenarios that varied in the gender combination of the perpetrator and victim, and differences in victim-blaming were examined after controlling for participants’ gender and age. The results showed that victim-blaming was significantly higher in the female-perpetrator-male-victim condition than in the prototypical male-perpetrator-female-victim condition. This finding suggests the potential presence of victim-blaming attitudes toward male victims of sexual violence. In Study 2, the mediating effects of male rape myth acceptance on the relationship between gender role stereotypes and victim-blaming attitudes toward male victims of sexual violence were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that male rape myth acceptance consisted of two subfactors: marginalization myths and victim culpability myths. Structural equation modeling revealed that victim culpability myths fully mediated the relationship between gender role stereotypes and victim-blaming attitudes toward male victims of sexual violence, whereas the mediating effect of marginalization myths was not statistically significant. Furthermore, no significant gender differences were found in the structural paths of the final model. These findings suggest that gender role stereotypes influence victim-blaming attitudes toward male victims of sexual violence indirectly through victim culpability myths rather than directly. Based on these findings, the study discusses its significance and implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research.