UC Riverside

The relationship between adherence to dominant masculine ideologies (i.e., hegemonic masculinity) and rape myth acceptance is not well known. Most rape myth research uses largely middle-class, white college student samples, making it difficult to explore the relationship between race/ethnicity, class, and rape myth acceptance. This study begins to fill these gaps by exploring the relationship between adherence to dominant masculine ideologies and rape myth acceptance among a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse sample of 456 American college men through survey methods. Results indicate that non-Latino Asian men had significantly higher rape myth acceptance and adherence to dominant masculine ideologies compared to Latino and non-Latino white men. Additionally, there was a significant positive relationship between adherence to dominant masculine ideologies and rape myth acceptance. These findings suggest the need for culturally relevant and culturally sensitive intervention and educational programs. Future research is needed to explore whether specific dimensions of dominant masculine ideologies are more important than other dimensions in predicting rape myth acceptance. Special attention must be made to study diverse samples, as the present research shows significant racial/ethnic variation in adherence to dominant masculine ideologies and attitudes toward rape.