Victim blaming by women and men who believe the world is a just place

Authors

Gabriela L. Culda*, Adrian N. Opre, Alexandra D. Dobrin

Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract

The Just World Theory states that each person gets what they deserve. Previous scientific literature showed that people who hold just world beliefs tend to blame rape victims to a greater extent than those who do not. The current study investigated the relationship between the Just World Theory and victim blaming in a rape case, while also investigating potential gender differences in relation to victim blaming. The sample (N = 79) included the readers of a national online newspaper, who gave their consent to take part in this study. The results showed gender differences regarding victim blaming: women tended to blame the victim more than men, with small towards medium effect size. The chi-square analysis found a medium towards large effect between gender and the Just World Theory. Hence, such results would suggest that the need of control over the environment can partially explain both the beliefs in a just world and the act of victim blaming.

Keywords: blaming, victim, rape, Just World Theory

PAGES:99-110

doi:10.24193/cbb.2018.22.07

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