How surprising is it to you, that 1/3rd of men would rape a woman if there were no consequences?

Not surpising actually – Especially given the vague and shifting language of the survey questions.

And the target group – young males in their early 20’s – is notoriously clueless about relationships & sexual behavior. But the results obviously still raise concerns, not just for females but society at large.

It was very surprising to me, and quite terrifying. It was a relief to see how small the study is, and I’d like to see a bigger one now.

Not at all, and it’s certainly not just the US.

There’s a very thin veneer of civility in our country that you should never rely on to protect you. Most of us learned that the hard way.

Men always seem to be on the prowl, like hunters after their prey. No it doesn’t surprise me.

Sickening. I threw up in my mouth a little.

That some men say that: not surprising.

That so many men say that: surprising and shocking, especially since there’s a good chance the affirmative answers were underreported.

It surprises me a bit because I just don’t understand it. I’ve never wanted to rape someone or felt that I would if I knew there’d be no consequences, it doesn’t make any sense to me. Sex by force with someone who doesn’t want it has no appeal for me. Would I punch someone who pissed me off in the face if I knew I wouldn’t be charged with assault? Yeah…probably. But rape? No way.

@JLoon I happen to disagree with you. Not only did I find it surprising but terribly, terribly shocking and outrageous. From what I could see, they did not present the age of the participants. But even if they were in fact 20 year-olds, any male in his 20s, regardless of how immature they are, should know right from wrong. There are no two ways about it.
I can’t see how much more direct you can be in questioning someone other than: When explicitly asked whether they would rape a woman if there were no consequences, only 13.6% of participants said they would do so,…

Again, I find it extremely shocking that this is where we are at in 2021. I grew up trusting men, the idea of rape was never put in my head. In my HS class, guys outnumbered girls in 3 to 1 and we would go out with all the guys and the thought of rape never crossed my mind—not even once. I studied HS in both my country and here and I trusted them just the same.

Of the sample in the study, I’m surprised so many openly admit that they would. It’s really appalling.

Maybe colleges and universities should do psychological assessments of potential entrants, rather than just rely on test and exam results.

@Kropotkin I totally agree with you. It is time that our society focuses on mental health and other sociological and humanistic aspects of education if we want to stop the self-destructive spiral that we are into. If we as a species cannot develop healthier interactions, no technological or scientific progress will stop us from extinction.

I have never understood what the hurry is all about. Why can’t we slow down a bit and put our house in order before moving forward?

No, I suppose I’m not surprised. But then, I live in a society where a lot of people seem to have no issue with cops murdering Blacks, for holding their mouth wrong. And then fall all over themselves trying to excuse the cops behavior. “Oh, but that guy got caught selling weed in 1998! He’s a criminal!”

I can neither deny or accept your claim. If true, it is what it is. Men are animals! And people are stupid.

I don’t know that animals go around raping their females…I have to look it up. In any case,men are not just animals but thinking animals (Homo sapiens sapiens) capable of using our rational minds to controlling and suppressing a few of our worse instincts. We are capable of balancing our act out and not letting our impulses get the best of us.

I couldn’t read the article in full. Did it show exactly how the questions were worded?

I find it shocking and disappointing the number is that high, but if the numbers had been half I would not be shocked.

This is why when I write answers about women always having to be on guard and jellies jump all over me that I am horrible for assuming men are so untrustworthy in this realm I just SMH. Some jellies are usually lockstep with me about it though, like @Dutchess_III usually is in my corner that women need to be wary.

@JLeslie Not all the questions in the survey, but at least they mention one direct question …explicitly asked whether they would rape a woman if there were no consequences, only 13.6% of participants said they would do so,…

Sure, women need to be on guard all the time, and men too.

Maybe what shocked me the most was that they were university students. A university was my place of work for 10 years and again, it never crossed my mind that my students could or would…it is very unsettling.

More proof of the sick ass society we live in.

@Yeahright I wish I could find a Q from a few years ago where jellies treated me like I was crazy to be paranoid to be wary of stranger men. I think the Q was talking about walking in a parking lot? I don’t remember.

It is unbelievable to me that 13.6% of men answered that way when the word rape was specifically stated. WTH?!

What school was it?

^ The study was conducted by academics at the University of North Dakota and the North Dakota State University. Its sample size was 86 people.
@longgone is right, we need to see a bigger study now to confirm those numbers. But the whole thing is just pathetic, really.

@Yeahright I agree we need a larger study and a bigger cross section of America. I don’t think the number is that high if we sampled 2,000 university male students at a school that has students from all over the country. That doesn’t change that this group of men still answered that way, and even if it’s an aberration it’s scary for the women at that university.

I wonder if these men don’t perceive rape as hurting women? Is it purely they want to take the sex? Do they think women enjoy it? As women we would call it an act of violence, but my guess is at least half these men don’t perceive it that way at all. Or, are they all sociopaths? I can’t deal with it.

@Yeahright ; and others – Disagree or agree, I think there are a couple things to keep in mind: 1) This study is an example of how weak survey design can undermine a valid research premise; and
2) Even with with it’s obvious flaws, the conclusions still generally reflect results gathered from more comprehensive research and current crime statistics.

What am I talking about? The actual research paper is titled “Denying Rape but Endorsing Forceful Intercourse: Exploring Differences Among Responders”. You can read it here – https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vio.2014.0022.

What’s clear from the beginning is that questions put to the survey qroup ( 86 college males mostly in their junior year) don’t exactly justify all the outrage in the headlines. Particpants were first asked “Have you ever coreced somebody to intercourse by holding them down?” Followed by “Have you ever raped somebody?” And the big news blaring from The Independent, Huffpost, USA Today, Buzzfeed, etc is all about the group segment that answered “Yes” to both. But in fact the more statistically significant finding is the percentage that gave negative responses to each question – 68.3% and 86.4%. So what does all this actually prove? How does it really “Explore differences among responders”?

I dunno, but my own thoughts run like this:

• 86 people is a pretty thin sample to generalize about anything.
• Do these undergrad studs even know what it actually means to coerce someone? How many are flunking english? And even if they do know, how many were juicing up their history for some other motive (all survey responders were given extra academic credit for participating)?
• Have I ever held somebody down as part of sex? Well…yes, in fact I have. And I’ve been held down too, in the same way. But doesn’t the degree and kind of force matter? What does this study tell the respondents about that when asking the questions? Not much.
• But I do know the difference between rape and role playing. Abusive assault isn’t just kinky fun. I’ve fought back more than once to keep from being a victim (and it’s why I carry a gun).
• When I look hard at my own thoughts & feelings I find myself somewhere between agreement and suspicion. How many guys have I become involved with who fit this profile? Too many. But how many times have I choked on some overhyped media version of “research findings” that amount to junk? My head aches.
• The fact is, crime stats and better investigations than this one show some alarming outcomes for both men and women when it comes to sexual abuse. There’s far more involved than just frat boys gone bad :
https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics

My own feeling is that men are not the enemy when it comes to dehumanizing sex. But they need to be better allies with women struggling against violence and exploitation. We all need to learn how to love each other better.

@JLeslie I don’t have the answer to any of those questions…I can’t get over this, that’s all I can say. Like, I don’t know, I guess I never contemplated those numbers and it’s just flabbergasting.

@JLoon Well done…

Not surprising since sex in the media is overstated.

The “next question” on that survey should had been..

” Would you still rape a women by force if you knew that you would be incarcerated for life and or die because of you actions?”
The idea that there are NO consequences is incorrect, as there always is whether conscience , guilt, grief may set in and if not then they would become a sciopath with no conscience.

All the survey really tells you is that a third of male university students say they would forcefully have sex with a woman if there were no consequences.

But in real life there are always consequences.

A rope and a lamp post would be a surefire cure for that crap.

@flutherother No there’s not always consequences. You’d be surprised. Date rape or party rape is often unreported from shame.

Cosby just got released from prison.
Drumpf became president.
Weinstein was able to rape for decades without problems.
Kavanaugh became a supreme court justice.

@Nomore_lockout… why do so many men offer up return violence as the solution? Most women would be hurt worse if they got violent with their attacker. Maybe even killed. Most men are usually stronger than most women. It would be like a child trying to punch out an adult. How do men not get this?

@Dutchess_III I think that’s just a good man’s response to issues like this. :(

@Dutchess_III Think you took that out of context. I didn’t mean that women should try that. I meant that in my view, rapists deserve and old Texas tradition, of a noose and an oak tree. Problem solved.