title: The Relationship Between Television Sports Exposure and Rape Myth Acceptance: The Mediating Role of Sexism and Sexual Objectification of Women.
abstract: Rape affects a large proportion of women in the United States but is one of the most underreported crimes. It is believed that rape myth acceptance contributes to low reporting rates. We tested whether television sports exposure was indirectly related to higher acceptance of rape myth beliefs. An online survey involving 465 undergraduate students showed that viewing TV sports was positively related to hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and sexual objectification of women. Through these variables, TV sports was indirectly and positively associated with rape myth acceptance. These results suggest that sports programming contributes to the perpetuation of rape myths in society.
authors.affiliation: 1 Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Custers
authors.affiliation: 2 Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Jenna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McNallie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology; D063507:Sexism / Q000523:psychology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*; D013240:Stereotyping; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television
keywords: rape; rape myths; sexism; sexual objectification; sexual violence; sports; television