3. Malamuth and Check (1980)

The experiment: male participants were randomly assigned to listen to three different short stories.

• Group One: heard a story about a rape victim who becomes aroused while being raped.

• Group Two: heard a story about a victim traumatized by a rape.

• Group Three: heard a story about consensual sex.

Results: men in Group One believed that the victim had experienced less trauma than men in the other two groups.

A replication of this study in 1985 also found that men from Group One were significantly more likely to believe that women enjoy rape.

Conclusion:

Malamuth and Check find a link between violent pornographic material and acceptance of rape myths – the idea that women secretly want to be raped.