The Effect of Myth Education on Responses to Disclosures of Sexual Assault

Sexual assault victims most often disclose informally to friends or family, whose responsesmay be shaped by rape myths. While education has been used to improve attitudes towardssexual assault (e.g., among police), its impact on informal disclosure recipients remainsunderexplored. In Study 1, participants completed one of three educational modules: rapemyths, myths with injunctive guidance to support victims, or a control. Although rape mythendorsement decreased, participants still evaluated a non-stereotypical assault scenario morenegatively than a stereotypical one. Exploratory analyses suggested that consent and rapeschemas are distinct and both influence evaluations of victims. Therefore, Study 2 exploredwhether targeting consent myths could improve evaluations of non-stereotypical victims.Participants received a module on rape myths, consent myths, both, or a control. Again,education reduced myth endorsement but did not impact victim evaluations. These findingshighlight the complexity of improving responses to disclosures of sexual assault.