Department of Communication

80 male and female students were exposed to sexually violent, sexually non-violent or neutral stimuli. All subjects then viewed an interview with an actual rape victim and responded to a questionnaire assessing rape-related attitudes and perceptions. Weeks later, subjects indicated their views on rape as part of what was purported to be a general survey of public attitudes. The data indicated that exposure to sexual stimuli, of a violent or non-violent nature, reduced the extent to which subjects perceived that pornography may have detrimental effects but did not affect reactions to rape. Correlational data revealed that sexual arousal to the portrayal of sexual violence, but not to non-violent sexuality, was associated with a self-reported possibility of engaging in rape, a self-report that was strongly related to a callous attitude towards rape and rape victims.