Peer pressure and parental style as predictors of undergraduates attitude toward rape victims
Many researchers have been interested in the various psychological impacts of being a rape victim to the extent that researches have been tailored towards rape victims’ experiences and the assistance they get from the mental health, medical and legal systems; and also on how these interactions impact on their psychological well-being. Rape victims do not only feel distressed from the traumatic experience of being raped but also from the way the society acts towards them. Demographic variables such as age, gender, and social categories have been used to predict attitude towards rape victims. This study was conducted to assess the predictive influence of peer pressure and parenting style on undergraduates’ attitude towards rape victims. Three hundred undergraduates from two different Universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria, responded to self-report instruments that comprise of Attitude towards Rape Victim Scale, Peer Pressure Scale and Parenting Style questionnaire. Using convenient sampling method one hundred and fifty participants were drawn from each of the institutions. Participants were aged between 15- 25 years. Males were 173 (57.7%) while the females were 127 (42.3%). Multiple regression analysis revealed that parenting styles predicted undergraduates’ attitude towards rape victims. The study also revealed that peer pressure significantly predicted undergraduates’ attitude towards rape victims and that parenting style and peer pressure, interactively predict undergraduates’ attitude towards rape. Based on the findings, it was concluded that peer pressure and parenting are significant predictors of undergraduates’ attitude towards rape victims.