Description
Abstract: The topic of sexual assault is a prevailing social issue and this study focuses on gender differences in how USD students perceive their safety when they are informed about the crime rates of sexual assault. In particular, we compared how safe men and women feel in general, as well as after reading information about sexual assault or general crime rates in a 3 (crime information: sexual assault, general, control) x 2 (participant gender: male, female) between-subjects design. Participants who were randomly assigned to read about sexual assault, for example, learned about the definitions and rates of crimes such as rape and domestic violence at USD and in San Diego in the past few years. We hypothesized that women will feel more wary of going out at night and will feel the need to be safer after reading about sexual assault information compared to men. They may also feel less safe after general crime information because of the "shadow" of sexual assault in which other crimes create fear because of a potential link to sexual assault. Men, on the other hand, were expected to feel less safe after reading about general crime than sexual assault. Although women may naturally be more hyper-aware of their surroundings in certain situations than men, it is important for men to understand how unsafe women feel in such situations. The results of this study will have implications for finding ways to promote safety and awareness among our community.
Included in
How Gender Affects Perception of Safety Following Information of Sexual Assault
Abstract: The topic of sexual assault is a prevailing social issue and this study focuses on gender differences in how USD students perceive their safety when they are informed about the crime rates of sexual assault. In particular, we compared how safe men and women feel in general, as well as after reading information about sexual assault or general crime rates in a 3 (crime information: sexual assault, general, control) x 2 (participant gender: male, female) between-subjects design. Participants who were randomly assigned to read about sexual assault, for example, learned about the definitions and rates of crimes such as rape and domestic violence at USD and in San Diego in the past few years. We hypothesized that women will feel more wary of going out at night and will feel the need to be safer after reading about sexual assault information compared to men. They may also feel less safe after general crime information because of the "shadow" of sexual assault in which other crimes create fear because of a potential link to sexual assault. Men, on the other hand, were expected to feel less safe after reading about general crime than sexual assault. Although women may naturally be more hyper-aware of their surroundings in certain situations than men, it is important for men to understand how unsafe women feel in such situations. The results of this study will have implications for finding ways to promote safety and awareness among our community.