Development and validation of the Male Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (MRMAS)

Benjamin A Hine; Anthony D Murphy; Jamie S Churchyard

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07421

Development and validation of the Male Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (MRMAS)

Heliyon. 2021 Jun 27;7(6):e07421. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07421. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Authors

Benjamin A Hine¹, Anthony D Murphy², Jamie S Churchyard¹

Affiliations

¹ University of West London, UK.
² University of Birmingham, UK.

Abstract

Despite growing recognition of male-on-male rape and its related myths, research in this area has been held back by the lack of a reliable and comprehensive measure or scale. The present work utilises a large and diverse participant sample over two studies (Study 1 N = 510, Study 2 N = 527) to validate a new Male Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (MRMAS), measuring myths falling under six principle themes: masculinity, sexuality, pleasure, perpetrators, context, and effect. Analysis suggested a two-factor scale, with 'Blame' and 'Minimisation/Exoneration' sub-scales. Both the overall scale and sub-scales demonstrate excellent reliability and construct validity, and are thus proposed as tools to enable the proliferation of future research on male rape myth acceptance, both in general and specialist populations, in an attempt to improve the experiences of male rape victims.

Keywords: Male rape; Rape; Rape myth acceptance; Scale; Validation.