Perceptions of Perpetrators and Victims: Implications of Status and System Justification
Creators: name: McLean, Kate
name: Czopp, Alex
name: Delker, Brianna
name: Schwam, Allison
name: Means, Kira
name: Fogel, Camille
name: Patterson, Aubrie
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Clinical Psychology
subject: School Psychology
subject: Personality and Social Contexts
subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences
subject: Psychology
subject: FOS: Psychology

description: Pilot Testing Narratives Materials All participants will read the following baseline narrative about the sexual assault: I ran into this girl, Laura, today who I met a couple months ago on Tinder. I thought she was cute and she seemed like she was into me too. On our second date, things were going really well so I kissed her and we ended up going back to my place and having sex. She left before I woke up. Later that day, she texted me and said she was super uncomfortable about what happened and said that I assaulted her. One of her friends also posted something on her story tagging me in it that warned all girls to stay away from me, and a bunch of my friends saw it. Participants will then be randomly assigned to read one of the following three perpetrator stories about the sexual assault, varying from low to high degree of responsibility-taking. Narrative 1: I was shocked and then pissed because I would never do something like that. I’m a good guy and I was raised right. She was clearly into it, and she never said no. The next day she must have regretted sleeping with me. She’s blaming me because she had sex that she changed her mind about. For a while, I was really worried about this screwing up my reputation- that girls wouldn’t want to date me, or that a future employer would find out. But really, I haven’t let it slow me down. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am and I’m not going to let her accusation ruin my future. Narrative 2: I was so ashamed. Ever since then I’ve felt horrible - she thinks I’m a monster. And now everyone who sees her friend’s story will think the same thing about me. I always thought of myself as a good guy. But I have thought about it so much since then, and I see how much I ignored that night. Even though she didn’t say no, she didn’t seem that into it. And I just kept going. This whole thing has really shaken me. Made me question who I am. I feel terrible – so angry at myself, and ashamed. I’ve been in a depression, not going out, not seeing anyone. I have so much regret for what I did. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am and now I’ve thrown it away. Narrative 3: I felt so guilty. Ever since then I’ve felt horrible - she thinks I’m a monster. And now everyone who sees her friend’s story will think the same thing about me. I always thought of myself as a good guy. But I have thought about it so much since then, and I see how much I ignored that night. Even though she didn’t say no, she didn’t seem that into it. And I just kept going. This whole thing has really shaken me. Made me question who I am. I feel terrible – so much sadness and guilt. I can’t even imagine what she must have been feeling- but I gotta think there’s a lot of pain and isolation. It was hard to hear, but I’m glad she told me about her experience because now I know how to be better. And last weekend at a bar, I quietly asked a girl if she was okay who seemed a little uncomfortable with her date. I hope this kind of thing makes a difference. Based on what you have just read, what do you think the perpetrator is thinking: 1. Perpetrator is taking responsibility for what happened. (Distinguishes Narrative 1 from 2/3) 2. Perpetrator is apologizing for what happened. (Distinguishes Narrative 1 from 2/3) 3. Perpetrator acknowledges that he did something wrong. (Distinguishes Narrative 1 from 2/3) 4. Perpetrator has gained insight about his actions and their impact. (Distinguishes Narrative 1/2 from 3) 5. Perpetrator has changed his behavior as a result of what happened. (Distinguishes Narrative 1/2 from 3) Scale Response: 1 = Disagree strongly 2 = Disagree mildly 3 = Agree mildly 4 = Agree strongly Additional questions with no pre-registered hypotheses: Does this story sound realistic to you? (scale response) What would make the story sound more realistic? [open ended] Is there anyone or anything else to blame for what happened? (open-ended) Hypotheses and Analyses 1) If r &gt; .5, we will combine items 1 and 3 for a “responsibility” DV. 2) If r &gt; .5, we will combine items 4 and 5 for a “growth” DV. 3) We will employ t-tests, and expect statistically significant (p &lt; .05) mean-level differences between Narrative 1 v. Narrative 2/3 for questions: 1/3 and 2. We expect mean responses to Narrative 1 to fall below the mid-point of the scale (2.5), and responses to Narratives 2 and 3 to fall above the mid-point of the scale (2.5). 4) We will employ t-tests, and expect statistically significant (p &lt; .05) mean-level differences between Narrative 1/2 v. Narrative 3 for questions: 4/5. We expect mean responses to Narratives 1 and 2 to fall below the mid-point of the scale (2.5), and responses to Narrative 3 to fall above the mid-point of the scale (2.5). Power Analysis and Sample Size Using G*Power we determined that we need n=38 in each of the 3 narrative conditions for a total of N=114 for the between-subjects pilot of the 3 narratives. This assumes alpha at .0167, a large anticipated effect size (d=.8), and power .9. Pilot Testing Status Manipulation Materials Low Status Cody is a 21 year old White male from Washington State. He grew up in a relatively big city and attended a large public high school in one of its more economically depressed neighborhoods. Unable to afford in-state tuition at the local public university, he is working full-time alongside his father in a small local construction company. His used pick-up truck makes it easy to haul tools and materials to his job. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball with his friends and camping with his family at a local state park. High Status Cody is a 21 year old White male from Washington State. He grew up in a relatively big city and attended a private college preparatory high school in one of its wealthier neighborhoods. Attending a well-respected university, he is majoring in pre-law and has spent the past year working a paid internship within his father's prestigious law firm. His luxury SUV makes his travel to class and his internship very comfortable. In his free time, he enjoys playing lacrosse with his friends and skiing with his family at their time share in Switzerland. Think of this ladder as representing people's standing in their community. The bottom rung represents the poorest members of society and the top rung represents the wealthiest. Where would you place Cody on the ladder? Q8 Cody is well-educated. o 1 - Strongly disagree (1) o 2 (2) o 3 (3) o 4 (4) o 5 (5) o 6 (6) o 7 (7) o 8 (8) o 9 (9) o 10 - Strongly agree (10) Hypotheses and Analyses 1) We will employ t-tests, and expect statistically significant (p &lt; .05) mean-level differences between the two status conditions. Power Analysis and Sample Size For the two status conditions, we need n=28 per condition for a total N=56 for the between-subjects pilot of the 2 status conditions. This assumes alpha at .05, a large anticipated effect size (d=.8), and power .9.