GENDER DIFFERENCES IN REACTIONS TO FEMALE VICTIMS

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship of gender and level of belief in the just world to reactions to victims. Eighty-six female and sixty-five male college students were led to believe that their partner in a study of work groups was a victim of a sexual assault. A gender difference in the choice of specific justice-restoring strategies was observed. While high just-world males provided significantly more help to victims than controls and low just-world males did not differentiate, female subjects distanced themselves from victims by perceiving them to be less similar to themselves than controls. Findings are discussed in relation to evidence that attempts to restore justice may evoke a multitude of cognitive and behavioral responses.