Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global Predictors
In May 2011, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party, was charged with attempted rape. Extensive media coverage led people across the globe to speculate about intentions and responsibilities. While the case was pending, we...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Bielefeld
2014-09-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/375/pdf_106 |
| _version_ | 1818683666656657408 |
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| author | Selina Helmke Pia-Renée Kobusch Jonas Rees Thierry Meyer Gerd Bohner |
| author_facet | Selina Helmke Pia-Renée Kobusch Jonas Rees Thierry Meyer Gerd Bohner |
| author_sort | Selina Helmke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In May 2011, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party, was charged with attempted rape. Extensive media coverage led people across the globe to speculate about intentions and responsibilities. While the case was pending, we conducted two parallel Internet surveys, with French and German participants (N= 1,314). We examined how strongly exoneration of the alleged perpetrator depended on acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA) and identity attributes that are temporarily salient as a function of local context (gender, political left-right orientation, nationality). AMMSA was a global predictor of exonerating the alleged perpetrator across national sub-samples, whereas the predictive power of gender and left-right orientation varied locally: For French respondents, left-wing political attitudes predicted exoneration of the alleged perpetrator, whereas only for German respondents, being male predicted exoneration. We conclude that the interplay of global (sexual aggression myths) and local (social identification) factors affects the lay assessment of ambiguous cases of sexual violence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:38:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2992909f5474c6ba3a6bff343211e0b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1864-1385 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:38:22Z |
| publishDate | 2014-09-01 |
| publisher | University of Bielefeld |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2992909f5474c6ba3a6bff343211e0b2022-12-21T21:52:19ZengUniversity of BielefeldInternational Journal of Conflict and Violence1864-13852014-09-0181171186Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global PredictorsSelina Helmke0Pia-Renée Kobusch1Jonas Rees2Thierry Meyer3Gerd Bohner4University of Bielefeld, GermanyUniversity of Bielefeld, GermanyUniversity of Bielefeld, GermanyParis West University Nanterre La Défense, FranceUniversity of Bielefeld, GermanyIn May 2011, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party, was charged with attempted rape. Extensive media coverage led people across the globe to speculate about intentions and responsibilities. While the case was pending, we conducted two parallel Internet surveys, with French and German participants (N= 1,314). We examined how strongly exoneration of the alleged perpetrator depended on acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression (AMMSA) and identity attributes that are temporarily salient as a function of local context (gender, political left-right orientation, nationality). AMMSA was a global predictor of exonerating the alleged perpetrator across national sub-samples, whereas the predictive power of gender and left-right orientation varied locally: For French respondents, left-wing political attitudes predicted exoneration of the alleged perpetrator, whereas only for German respondents, being male predicted exoneration. We conclude that the interplay of global (sexual aggression myths) and local (social identification) factors affects the lay assessment of ambiguous cases of sexual violence.http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/375/pdf_106perpetrator exonerationpolitical attitudesrape myth acceptancesexual violencesocial identificationsurvey |
| spellingShingle | Selina Helmke Pia-Renée Kobusch Jonas Rees Thierry Meyer Gerd Bohner Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global Predictors International Journal of Conflict and Violence perpetrator exoneration political attitudes rape myth acceptance sexual violence social identification survey |
| title | Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global Predictors |
| title_full | Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global Predictors |
| title_fullStr | Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global Predictors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global Predictors |
| title_short | Beliefs About the Strauss-Kahn Case in France and Germany: Political Orientation and Sexual Aggression Myths as Local Versus Global Predictors |
| title_sort | beliefs about the strauss kahn case in france and germany political orientation and sexual aggression myths as local versus global predictors |
| topic | perpetrator exoneration political attitudes rape myth acceptance sexual violence social identification survey |
| url | http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/375/pdf_106 |
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