Skip to main content
Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000240

Abstract. Masculine honor consists of stereotypic beliefs about male behavior, including the belief that men’s aggression is appropriate, justifiable, and necessary in response to provocation, especially provocation that insults or threatens one’s manhood, family, or romantic partner. We conducted two studies examining the relationships between stereotypic masculine honor beliefs and perceptions of rape. Masculine honor beliefs generally were associated with both negative attitudes toward rape and negative attitudes toward women who have been raped. Further, different components of masculine honor beliefs correlated differently with various rape perceptions. These outcomes illustrate the complexity of the stereotypic beliefs about appropriate male behavior that comprise masculine honor, and which emphasize men’s responsibility to both take care of others and demonstrate interpersonal dominance.

References

  • Abrahams, N. & Jewkes, R. (2010). Barriers to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) completion after rape: A South African qualitative study. Culture, Health, and Sexuality, 12, 471–484. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Abrams, D., Viki, G. T., Masser, B. & Bohner, G. (2003). Perceptions of stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent and hostile sexism in victim blame and rape proclivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 111–125. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ahrens, C. E. & Campbell, R. (2000). Assisting rape victims as they recover from rape: The impact on friends. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 959–986. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Baaz, M. E. & Stern, M. (2009). Why do soldiers rape? Masculinity, violence, and sexuality in armed forces in the Congo (DRC). International Studies Quarterly, 53, 495–518. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Barnes, C. D., Brown, R. P. & Osterman, L. L. (2012). Don’t tread on me: Masculine honor ideology in the US and militant responses to terrorism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1018–1029. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Barnes, C. D., Brown, R. P. & Tamborski, M. (2012). Living dangerously: Culture of honor, risk-taking, and the nonrandomness of “accidental” deaths. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3, 100–107. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Black, M. C., Basile, K. C., Breiding, M. J., Smith, S. G., Walters, M. L., Merrick, M. T., … Stevens, M. R. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bohner, G., Reinhard, M., Rutz, S., Sturm, S., Kerschbaum, B. & Effler, D. (1998). Rape myths as neutralizing cognitions: Evidence for a causal impact of anti-victim attitudes on men’s self-reported likelihood of raping. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 257–268. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bohner, G., Siebler, F. & Schmelcher, J. (2006). Social norms and the likelihood of raping: Perceived rape myth acceptance of others affects men’s rape proclivity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 286–297. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Brown, R. P., Osterman, L. L. & Barnes, C. D. (2009). School violence and the culture of honor. Psychological Science, 20, 1400–1405. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women, and rape. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Buchwald E., Fletcher P. R. & Roth M. (Eds.). (2005). Transforming a rape culture (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Burgess, W. & Holmstrom, L. L. (1974). Rape trauma syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 981–986. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 217–230. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Campbell, R. (1998). The community response to rape: Victims’ experiences with the legal, medical, and mental health systems. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26, 355–379. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Campbell, R. & Raja, S. (1999). Secondary victimization of rape victims: Insights from mental health professionals who treat survivors of violence. Violence and Victims, 14, 261–275. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, D. (1998). Culture, social organization, and patterns of violence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 408–419. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, D. & Nisbett, R. E. (1994). Self-protection and the culture of honor: Explaining Southern violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 551–567. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, D. & Nisbett, R. E. (1997). Field experiments examining the culture of honor: The role of institutions in perpetuating norms of violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 1188–1199. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, D., Nisbett, R. E., Bowdle, B. F. & Schwarz, N. (1996). Insult, aggression, and the Southern culture of honor: An “experimental ethnography”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 945–960. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, D., Vandello, J., Puente, S. & Rantilla, A. (1999). “When you call me that, smile!” How norms for politeness, interaction styles, and aggression work together in Southern culture. Social Psychology Quarterly, 62, 257–275. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, D., Vandello, J. & Rantilla, A. K. (1998). The sacred and the social: Cultures of honor and violence. In P. GilbertB. AndrewsEds., Shame: Interpersonal behavior, psychopathology, and culture (pp. 261–282). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Connell, R. W. & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender and Society, 19, 829–859. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Copelon, R. (2000). Gender crimes as war crimes: Integrating war crimes against women into international criminal law. McGill Law Journal, 46, 217–240. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Crawford, M. & Popp, D. (2003). Sexual double standards: A review and methodological critique of two decades of research. The Journal of Sex Research, 40, 13–26. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Enloe, C. (2000). Maneuvers: The international politics of militarizing women’s lives. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Eyssel, F., Bohner, G. & Siebler, F. (2006). Perceived rape myth acceptance of others predicts rape proclivity: Social norm or judgmental anchoring? Swiss Journal of Social Psychology, 65, 93–99. First citation in articleLinkGoogle Scholar

  • Falcón, S. (2001). Rape as a weapon of war: Advancing human rights for women at the US-Mexico border. Social Justice, 28, 31–50. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Figueredo, A. J., Tal, I. R., McNeil, P. & Guillen, A. (2004). Farmers, herders, and fishers: The ecology of revenge. Evolution and Human Behavior, 25, 336–353. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Fisher, B. S., Cullen, F. T. & Turner, M. G. (2001). The sexual victimization of college women. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Garrett-Gooding, J. & Senter, R. (1987). Attitudes and acts of sexual aggression on a university campus. Sociological Inquiry, 57, 348–371. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gerger, H., Kley, H., Bohner, G. & Siebler, F. (2007). The acceptance of modern myths about sexual aggression scale: Development and validation in German and English. Aggressive Behavior, 33, 422–440. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Hagan, K. T. (2010). The nature and psychosocial consequences of war rape for individuals and communities. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 2, 14–25. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Higate, P. & Hopton, J. (2005). War militarism and masculinities. In M. KimmelJ. HearnR. W. ConnellEds., Handbook of studies on men and masculinities (pp. 432–447). London, UK: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hockett, J. M., McGraw, L. K. & Saucier, D. A. (2014). A “rape victim” by any other name: The effects of labels on individuals’ rape-related perceptions. In H. PishwaR. SchulzeEds., Expressions of inequality in interaction: Power, dominance, and status (pp. 81–104). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hockett, J. M. & Saucier, D. A. (2015). A review of “rape victims” versus “rape survivors”: Implications for theory, research, and practice, Manuscript in preparation. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hockett, J. M., Saucier, D. A., Hoffman, B. H., Smith, S. J. & Craig, A. W. (2009). Oppression through acceptance? Predicting rape myth acceptance and attitudes toward rape victims. Violence against Women, 15, 877–897. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jimenez, J. A. & Abreu, J. M. (2003). Race and sex effects on attitudinal perceptions of acquaintance rape. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50, 252–256. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Jost, J. T. & Banaji, M. R. (1994). The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false-consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1–27. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kowalski, R. M. (1993). Inferring sexual interest from behavioral cues: Effects of gender on sexually relevant attitudes. Sex Roles, 29, 13–36. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kesić, V. (2005). Establishing rape as a war crime. In E. BuchwaldP. R. FletcherM. RothEds., Transforming a rape culture (pp. 269–289). Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Levin, R. J. & Berlo, W. (2004). Sexual arousal and orgasm in subjects who experience forced or non-consensual sexual stimulation – a review. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, 11, 82–88. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Littleton, H. L., Grills-Taquechel, A. E. & Axsom, D. (2009). Resource loss as a predictor of posttrauma symptoms among college women following the mass shooting at Virginia Tech. Violence and Victims, 24, 669–687. doi: 10.1891/0886-6708.24.5.669 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Locke, B. D. & Mahalik, J. R. (2005). Examining masculinity norms, problem drinking, and athletic involvement as predictors of sexual aggression in college men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 279–283. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Luddy, J. G. & Thompson, E. H. Jr. (1997). Masculinities and violence: A father-son comparison of gender traditionality and perceptions of heterosexual rape. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 462–477. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Madigan, L. & Gamble, N. (1991). The second rape: Society’s continued betrayal of the victim. New York, NY: Lexington Books. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Murnen, S. K., Wright, C. & Kaluzny, G. (2002). If “boys will be boys” then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression. Sex Roles, 46, 359–375. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • National Victim Center and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center. (1992). Rape in America: A report to the nation. Arlington, VA: National Victim Center. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Nisbett, R. E. (1993). Violence and US regional culture. American Psychologist, 48, 441–449. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Osterman, L. L. & Brown, R. P. (2011). Culture of honor and violence against the self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1611–1623. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Parker, J. A. & Mahlstedt, D. (2010). Language, power, and sexual assault: Women’s voices on rape and social change. In S. J. BehrensJ. A. ParkerEds., Language in the real world: An introduction to linguistics (pp. 139–163). New York, NY: Routledge. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Petrak, J. (2002). The psychological impact of sexual assault. In J. PetrakB. HedgeEds., The trauma of sexual assault: Treatment, prevention, and practice (pp. 19–44). New York, NY: Wiley. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Prentice, D. A. & Carranza, E. (2002). What women and men should be, shouldn’t be, are allowed to be, and don’t have to be: The contents of prescriptive gender stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26, 269–281. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Renner, K. E., Wackett, C. & Ganderton, S. (1988). The “social” nature of sexual assault. Canadian Psychology, 29, 163–173. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Rodriquez Mosquera, P. M., Manstead, A. S. R. & Fischer, A. H. (2002a). Honour in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33, 16–36. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Rodriquez Mosquera, P. M., Manstead, A. S. R. & Fischer, A. H. (2002b). The role of honour in emotional reactions to offences. Cognition and Emotion, 16, 143–163. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Russell, D. E. H. (1984). Sexual exploitation: Rape, child sexual abuse, and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Sanday, P. R. (1981). The socio-cultural context of rape: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Social Issues, 37, 5–27. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Sanday, P. R. (2003). Rape-free versus rape-prone: How culture makes a difference. In C. B. TravisEd.. Evolution, gender and rape (pp. 337–362). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Saucier, D. A. & McManus, J. L. (2014). Men of honor: Examining individual differences in masculine honor beliefs. In J. GelferEd.. Masculinities in a global era (pp. 85–100). New York, NY: Springer. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Saucier, D. A., Stanford, A. J., Miller, A. K., McManus, J. L. & Burns, M. D. (2015). Masculine honor beliefs: Measurement and correlates, Manuscript in preparation. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Shepherd, L. J. (2010). Gendering security. In J. P. BurgessEd.. The Routledge handbook of new security studies (pp. 72–80). New York, NY: Routledge. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Skjelsbæk, I. (2006). Victim and survivor: Narrated social identities of women who experienced rape during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Feminism & Psychology, 16, 373–403. doi: 10.1177/0959353506068746 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Snyder, H. N. (2000). Sexual assault of young children as reported to law enforcement: Victim, incident, and offender characteristics. Washington, DC: Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Strain, M. L., Hockett, J. M. & Saucier, D. A. (2015). Precursors to rape: pressuring behaviors and rape proclivity. Violence and Victims, 30, 322–341. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Tatum, J. L. & Foubert, J. D. (2009). Rape myth acceptance, hypermasculinity, and SAT scores as correlates of moral development: Understanding sexually aggressive attitudes in first-year college men. Journal of College Student Development, 50, 195–209. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Thompson, E. H. & Pleck, J. H. (1986). The structure of male role norms. American Behavioral Scientist, 29, 531–543. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Thompson, M. (2000). Life after rape: A chance to speak? Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 15, 325–343. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Tjaden, P. & Thoennes, N. (2006). Extent, nature, and consequences of rape victimization: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/210346.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • United States Department of Justice. (2005). National crime victimization survey. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • United Nations Economic and Social Council. (1993). Situation of human rights in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Report submitted by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, February 10, E/CN.4/1993/50. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Vandello, J. A., Cohen, D., Grandon, R. & Franiuk, R. (2009). Stand by your man: Indirect prescriptions for honorable violence and feminine loyalty in Canada, Chile and the US. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40, 81–104. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Viki, G. T., Abrams, D. & Hutchinson, P. (2003). The “true” romantic: Benevolent sexism and paternalistic chivalry. Sex Roles, 49, 533–537. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Viki, G. T., Abrams, D. & Masser, B. (2004). Evaluating stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent sexism in perpetrator blame and recommended sentence length. Law and Human Behavior, 28, 295–303. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Vlachova M. & Biason L. (Eds.). (2005). Women in an insecure world: Violence against women, facts, figures, and analysis. Geneva, Switzerland: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ward, C. (1988). The attitudes toward rape victims scale: Construction, validation, and cross cultural applicability. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 12, 127–146. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Warrick, C. (2005). The vanishing victim: Criminal law and gender in Jordan. Law and Society Review, 39, 315–348. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Williams, J. E. (1984). Secondary victimization: Confronting public attitudes about rape. Victimology, 9, 66–81. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Zurbriggen, E. L. (2010). Rape, war, and the socialization of masculinity: Why our refusal to give up war ensures that rape cannot be eradicate. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34, 538–549. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar