Rape myths acceptance among adolescents – A longitudinal mediation analysis

Abstract

This study explores whether neo-sexist attitudes mediate the association between sexualized media use (including pornography) and rape myths. In a 3-wave panel of Croatian high-school students (136 male and 326 female adolescents), the mediation hypothesis was not confirmed. Moreover, the association between neo-sexism and rape myths was conformed only among female adolescents (the average acceptance of neo-sexism was higher in male than female participants). Contrary to what was expected, pornography use – which was unrelated to neo-sexism – was negatively associated with rape myths in both male and female adolescents, although the relationship was statistically significant only among the latter. Among male participants, watching movies and sequels on television or the Internet was predictive for neo-sexist attitudes. This study's findings point to the need of studying the use of sexualized media among adolescents to identify factors associated with trivialization and/or misinterpretation of sexual violence and aggression. Considering that adolescents differ in their susceptibility to the influence of media, future studies should focus on possible moderation effects of family and peer socialization.