Music Preferences, Gender-based Attitudes, and Perceptions of Rape Culture
Poster Number
13
Session Title
Poster Session 1
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Abstract
We examined music listening habits, acceptance of rape culture, and gender stereotyping. We hypothesized that adults who had been exposed to higher levels of sexually deviant lyrics would be more approving of rape culture and stereotypes. Participants were 98 adults with a mean age of 21.93 (SD=5.16). The majority (74%) were women, Caucasian (54%), and heterosexual (65%). Participants provided their level of agreement with stereotypical gender roles and rape myths, as well as information about their music listening habits. We found significant differences between Caucasian and African American adults in their music listening habits; however, these two groups did not differ on acceptance of rape myths. In contrast, men and women reported similar music listening patterns, but men were more accepting of rape myths. These findings contradicted our hypothesis. Participants who enjoyed listening to the lyrics of sexually explicit music rejected rape myths and male dominance. One explanation is that today’s music contains elements of male and female sexual empowerment, perhaps being more salient or common than messages of violence and dominance. Further supporting this notion, we found that compared to heterosexual adults, non-heterosexual adults listened to lyrics more and rejected rape myths more strongly. Our data suggest that music is not the only factor that influences attitudes toward rape myths, as groups (men and women) that shared similar music listening patterns differed in their rape myth attitudes, while groups (Caucasian and African American) that differed in their music listening patterns shared similar rape myth attitudes.
Start Date
15-4-2022 12:00 PM
Music Preferences, Gender-based Attitudes, and Perceptions of Rape Culture
We examined music listening habits, acceptance of rape culture, and gender stereotyping. We hypothesized that adults who had been exposed to higher levels of sexually deviant lyrics would be more approving of rape culture and stereotypes. Participants were 98 adults with a mean age of 21.93 (SD=5.16). The majority (74%) were women, Caucasian (54%), and heterosexual (65%). Participants provided their level of agreement with stereotypical gender roles and rape myths, as well as information about their music listening habits. We found significant differences between Caucasian and African American adults in their music listening habits; however, these two groups did not differ on acceptance of rape myths. In contrast, men and women reported similar music listening patterns, but men were more accepting of rape myths. These findings contradicted our hypothesis. Participants who enjoyed listening to the lyrics of sexually explicit music rejected rape myths and male dominance. One explanation is that today’s music contains elements of male and female sexual empowerment, perhaps being more salient or common than messages of violence and dominance. Further supporting this notion, we found that compared to heterosexual adults, non-heterosexual adults listened to lyrics more and rejected rape myths more strongly. Our data suggest that music is not the only factor that influences attitudes toward rape myths, as groups (men and women) that shared similar music listening patterns differed in their rape myth attitudes, while groups (Caucasian and African American) that differed in their music listening patterns shared similar rape myth attitudes.
