The causal impact of rape myth acceptance on men's rape proclivity: comparing sexually coercive and noncoercive men

Heightened temporary accessibility of men's rape myth acceptance (RMA) increases the correlation between RMA and rape proclivity (RP), suggesting a causal impact of RMA on RP (G. Bohner et al., 1998). We additionally examined previous sexual coercion as an indicator of chronic accessibility of RMA. In Study 1 (N = 107), the correlation between RMA and RP was higher: (a) if RMA was assessed before (versus after) RP; and (b) for men who had previously engaged in sexual coercion compared with men who had not. In Study 2 (N = 148), sexually coercive men were faster answering RMA items than were noncoercive men. Taken together, these findings indicate that the temporary and chronic accessibility of RMA independently affect the RMA‐RP link. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.