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The current study investigates the effects of age, gender, marital status, relationship status and level of education (IVs) on attitudes towards rape (DVs). The experiment was of between-subjects design involving 89 participants consisting of 37 students and 52 civil servants. Participants completed a survey consisting of three questionnaires. A short demographic questionnaire, Ward's (1988) Attitudes Towards Rape Victims scale (ATRV) and Field's (1978) Attitudes Toward Rape (ATR) questionnaire were administered to all participants. An independent samples t-test found males to score statistically significantly higher for rape tolerant attitudes than females. A one-way ANOVA found no statistically significant difference in attitudes between participants in different age groups. While no statistically significant difference was found between the attitudes of married and unmarried males a difference was observed. Of the unmarried participants no statistically significant difference in attitude was found between participants in a long term relationship and those not in a long term relationship. A one-way ANOVA found no statistically significant difference between rape tolerance attitudes of participants in different education level categories, however there was some evidence to suggest that rape tolerance attitudes decreased as education levels increased. A possible future direction for further research might be a semi-blind experiment involving participants verbal reactions to statements regarding rape, controlling for demand characteristics.
