The Impact of Victim and Perpetrator Race on Likelihood of Bystander Advice Post-sexual Assault
A Vignette Study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22169596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leonie Maatz (0000-0002-5109-4049, Erasmus University Rotterdam, corresponding author), Irena Boskovic (0000-0003-1675-1004, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Melissa S De Roos (0000-0003-3469-6870, Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 125-142 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2516-6069 • E-ISSN: 2516-6077 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/25166069251381880 |
| OpenAlex | W4415564909 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 61 |
Sexual assault is a highly prevalent issue, with some individuals being more vulnerable to being sexually assaulted. Namely, women are at a higher risk than men, and within women, ethnic minorities are at a particularly high risk. Both victim and perpetrator race were previously found to impact not only the victims’ reporting behaviour but also case proceedings and bystanders’ reactions, with inter-racial sexual assault being perceived as more severe. The current study assessed whether manipulating both victim and perpetrator race (being White, Arab or Black) would affect bystanders’ advice to a hypothetical victim about post-sexual assault reactions. We included 255 participants with no history of sexual assault and presented them with one out of nine vignettes. The vignettes included either a White, Black or Arab perpetrator and a White, Black or Arab victim (9 conditions, 26 ns > 31), and were administered in a randomized order. Participants were asked to imagine witnessing the described situation and to rate the likelihood of recommending eight different post-sexual assault reactions (tell friends, tell family, confront the person, report, police report, do nothing, try to forget and deny) to a victim. Overall, reporting the incident and confronting the perpetrator were the most likely advice bystanders would provide to the victim, with no significant differences between race conditions. These results indicate that bystanders would suggest an active approach against victimization regardless of the race of the involved parties. However, it is important to consider that race-related research evokes socially desirable responding, which could have impacted our findings
Ethnic group · Poison control · Sexual assault · Suicide prevention · Vignette · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
Criminal Victimization
The role of social desirability and establishing nonracist credentials on mock juror decisions about Black defendants
Justice Perceptions, Sexual Identity, and Race
Stemming the flow
The Factors Related to Rape Reporting Behavior and Arrest
Reporting Sexual Victimization To The Police And Others
Rape Myth Beliefs and Bystander Attitudes Among Incoming College Students
Campus and College Victim Responses to Sexual Assault and Dating Violence
Correlates of Social Reactions to Victims’ Disclosures of Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence
Shattering Silence
The “Justice Gap” for Sexual Assault Cases
Race and the Criminal Justice System Response to Sexual Assault
The Social Organization of Sexual Assault
I Didn't Want To Be 'That Girl
Anti-Muslim racism and the racialisation of sexual violence
Sexual harassment across the color line
The Criminal Justice System’s Response to Sexual Violence
The Effect of Rape Myth Endorsement on Police Response to Sexual Assault Survivors
To Whom Do College Women Confide Following Sexual Assault? A Prospective Study of Predictors of Sexual Assault Disclosure and Social Reactions
Creating a More Complete and Current Picture
Does Sexism Mediate the Gender and Rape Myth Acceptance Relationship
Sexual Orientation, Race, and Trauma as Predictors of Sexual Assault Recovery
Jews’ and Arabs’ Perceptions of Inter-Group and Intra-Group Date Rape
Students’ Perceptions of Justice
Deciding Whom to Tell
Calling it Rape
White Female Bystanders’ Responses to a Black Woman at Risk for Incapacitated Sexual Assault
Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance
Supporting Survivors
Rape Myth Acceptance
The View from Inside the System
The Sociocultural Context of African American and White American Women's Rape
Narrow prototypes and neglected victims
Black Women's experiences of sexual assault and disclosure
The Vanishing Victim
The Reporting of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault by Nonstrangers to the Police
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |