Rape Myth Acceptance, Hypermasculinity, and SAT Scores as Correlates of Moral Development: Understanding Sexually Aggressive Attitudes in First-Year College Men

Male perpetrated sexual aggression has long been recognized as a serious problem on college campuses. The purpose of this multiple regression correlation study was to assess the relationship between levels of moral development (measured by the Defining Issues Test) and the degree to which first-year college men (N = 161) ascribed to rape supportive attitudes, as measured by the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale and the Hypermasculinity Inventory. Respondents completed these instruments and a demographic questionnaire prior to the beginning of the fall semester. Pearson correlations indicated that there was a significant (p < .01) relationship between rape myth acceptance and moral development. There was not a significant relationship between hypermasculinity and moral development. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that rape myths and SAT verbal scores accounted for 9% of moral development variance. Additional stepwise analysis suggested that the rape myth subscale, It Wasn’t Really Rape, in combination with SAT verbal scores, accounted for approximately 10% of moral development variance. Implications for practitioners and researchers are provided.