If "boys will be boys," then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  June, 2002  by Sarah K. Murnen,  Carrie Wright,  Gretchen Kaluzny

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Feminist sociocultural models of rape posit that the patriarchal structure of society perpetuates sexual violence against women. According to the social control model of rape, the male-dominated structure of society is maintained by various societal factors including sexual violence against women (e.g., Brownmiller, 1975; Griffin, 1979; Sheffield, 1987). Sexual violence keeps women in a state of fear so that they are dependent on others for their survival. Such theories have a relatively long history. One of the first people to propose and begin to test a feminist sociocultural model was Martha Burt (1980) who hypothesized that "rape is the logical and psychological extension of a dominant-submissive, competitive, sex-role stereotyped culture" (p. 229). The purpose of the present study is to examine the sociocultural model of sexual aggression (SA) by synthesizing quantitatively the body of research that links masculine ideology to sexual violence. It is hypothesized that to the extent that men agree with an extreme form of masculinity that represents support for patriarchy ideology, they are more likely to be sexually aggressive toward women.

In support of sociocultural models of rape, cross-cultural researchers have found that rape rates vary along with aspects of the societal structure. In a study of 156 tribal societies, Sanday (1981) found that there was cross-cultural variation in rape rates and that there were reliable differences between "rape-prone" and "rape-free" societies. In rape-prone societies the genders were more segregated, women were less powerful, and rates of interpersonal violence were higher than in rape-free societies. Similarly, Reiss (1986) found that in rape-prone societies there was more endorsement of a "macho personality" (e.g., accepting of physical aggression and high risk-taking, casual attitudes toward sex) and more agreement with belief in the inferiority of females. Lottes (1984, cited in Lottes, 1988) found that in societies with high rape rates, women had lower status and violence was more common.

The United States has been classified as a rape-prone society; it has the highest rape rate of any industrialized country (Allison & Wrightsman, 1993). Many studies have documented high rates of sexual violence against women. In early rape research, the focus was on rape that was reported in national crime statistics, and most people's idea was rape by a stranger (see Muehlenhard & Kimes, 1999). In the 1980s it became clear that there were many unreported cases of rape and many undetected offenders. The research reviewed in this paper deals with such undetected offenders who are likely to have sexually aggressed against someone they know. The United States has a high rate of "acquaintance rape" according to a variety of anonymous, self-report surveys. For example, Koss and Oros (1982) reported that 20-30% of a large sample of college students had engaged in or been the victim of sexual aggression. Rapaport and Burkhart (1984) found that about 28% of the college men they studied had engaged in sexual coercion. In a comprehensive study of a sample of students from 34 colleges and universites across the country it was found that about 12% of women students had been victims of rape or attempted rape, and an additional 15% had experienced assault that met the legal definition of rape (Koss, Gidcycz, & Wisniewski, 1987). More recent studies confirm these high rates (e.g., Calhoun, Bernat, Glum, & Frame, 1997; DeKeseredy, 1997). Further, across a number of anonymous self-report studies, about one third of the college men sampled indicated some likelihood that they would rape a woman if guaranteed that they would not be caught or punished (e.g., Greendlinger & Byrne, 1987; Malamuth, Haber, & Feshbach, 1980; Rapaport & Burkhart, 1984; Smeaton & Byrne, 1987).

Along with high rape rates, it is likely that attitudes about sexuality and violence in the United States parallel those of other rape-prone cultures. Sheffield (1987) specifically linked the sociocultural structure with individual attitudes and argued that traditional gender-role attitudes are one of the social forces that maintain the existence of sexual violence against women. Traditional gender roles encourage men to be violent in the name of "masculinity" and women to be sexually passive in order to be "feminine." (In addition, "societal propaganda" such as pornography and our use of language help to construct and support attitudes and behaviors that are consistent with the patriarchal structure.)

Similarly, Byers (1996) summarized how theorists have discussed the relationship between the traditional sexual script (TSS) and SA by indicating that

the TSS pits the oversexed, aggressive, emotionally insensitive male initiator who is enhanced by each sexual conquest and taught not to accept "no" for an answer against the unassertive, passive woman who is trying to protect her worth by restricting access to her sexuality while still appearing interested, sexy, and concerned about the man's needs. Sexual coercion is believed to be learned and maintained through widespread socialization for this behavioral sexual script, traditional gender roles, and attitudes and beliefs that support, condone, and legitimize sexual coercion in at least some circumstance. (p. 11)