title: Attributions of blame to battered women when they are perceived as feminists or as "difficult to deal with".
abstract: This study aimed to analyze the influence of victim-related and observer-related factors in victim blaming of battered women. Two hundred and forty six college students participated. They were asked to read a scenario describing a hypothetical case of physical violence perpetrated by a man against his partner. Depending on the experimental condition, the victim was described either as a feminist and/or as exhibiting difficulties in her relationship with others or not. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed with victim blaming as dependent variable. Participants' hostile sexism positively predicted victim blaming when the victim was described as a feminist and as a "difficult to deal with" woman (p < .001). In addition, men, but not women, high in hostile sexist attitudes placed more blame on the victim when she was presented as a feminist woman (p < .001). These results underscore the importance of victim-related and observer-related factors, and of their interaction, in blaming the victim of gender-based violence.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Granada (Spain).
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vidal-Fernández
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Granada (Spain).
authors.forename: Jesús L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Megías
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women / Q000523:psychology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063507:Sexism / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult