LITUANUS
LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
 
Volume 45, No. 4 - Winter 1999
Editor of this issue: Violeta Kelertas
ISSN 0024-5089
Copyright © 1999 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc.
Lituanus

SEXUAL SCRIPTS, SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARDS, RAPE MYTH ACCEPTANCE, AND PERCEPTIONS OF ACQUAINTANCE RAPE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AT VILNIUS UNIVERSITY VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

KERRY E. STROMBERG*
School for International Training

Introduction

For over fifty years, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. The isolation of the country from outside influences during the Soviet occupation from 1949 to 1991 limited the society's exposure to current social discussions, among them the prevalence of acquaintance rape on college campuses in the United States and elsewhere.

In Lithuania, acquaintance rape is not a common term. Culturally, rape refers only to stranger rape. As a traditional society, people follow sexual roles more closely than in North America. The country is 85 percent Roman Catholic and tends to be conservative, which also inhibits open discussion of sex, or rape and other forms of sexual violence. The purpose of this study is to analyze the attitudes of students at Vilnius University regarding rape myth acceptance, sexual double standard, variables that may influence perception of rape, and perpetrator/victim responsibility.

In the United States, it is estimated that one in four woman have been a victim of rape or attempted rape (Warshaw, 1988). However, in the United States the term rape has come to take on a broader definition of sexual violence than in Lithuania, where rape is limited to stranger rape. In previous research, rape has been restricted as penile-vaginal penetration (Russell, 1984), based on the legal definition of rape in California. Others have included penetration by objects other than a penis (Koss et al., 1987), while other researchers have broadened the definition to include "any form of nonconsensual sexual activity" (Veronen and Kilpatrick, 1983, p. 342).

Keeping in mind the cultural norms of the country, in this study acquaintance rape is understood as forced penile-vaginal sexual intercourse between individuals who are acquainted or romantically involved with each other. In the questionnaire, the phrase "sexual intercourse occurs against her will" was used. This research focuses on adherence to traditional sexual scripts, sexual double standards and rape myth acceptance; "party" rape, where students of the opposite sex come into contact with each other at a social setting, but have not been acquainted previously (Ward, Chapman, Cohn, White and Williams, 1991); and date rape, where the individuals are likely to be romantically interested in one another.

Sex role norms prescribe sexual behavior between men and women. According to Check and Malamuth (1983), men are taught to take the initiative and persist in sexual encounters, while women are supposed to set the limits. Traditionally, women have much less sexual freedom than men and are taught not to freely express their sexual desires.

In the United States, the sexual script often conveyed through television shows, popular films and pornography depicts the man making a sexual advance and the woman initially resisting, but then finally positively responding by falling in love with him or experiencing orgasm (Cowen, Lee, Levy, and Snyder, 1988; Malamuth and Check, 1981; Smith, 1976; Waggett, 1989). The implied message is that men should persist beyond a woman's protest and women should say "no" even if they desire sex (Muehlenhard and McCoy, 1991). The more traditional the society, the closer the adherence to the sexual scripts. It was expected that Lithuanians in this study would demonstrate conservative sexual scripts.

One problem with sexual scripts is that they lead to a sexual double standard, whereby men can seek and enjoy sex and women cannot. This can cause women to engage in token resistance to sex. In fact, in a study by Muehlenhard and Hollabaugh (1988), over 39 percent of the women respondents had engaged in token resistance at least one time. They argue that by understanding society's double standard, this token resistance to sex may be a rational behavior. It was predicted that Lithuanians in the study would show conservative values toward sex, closely adhere to a sexual script, and demonstrate a strong sexual double standard.

Conservative societies tend to have higher sex role stereotyping, and according to Burt (1980), the higher the sex role stereotyping the greater the respondent's adherence to rape myths. Common rape myths which determine the perception of rape include: sexual status (virgin or not), the location of the incident, the woman's clothing and appearance, who paid for the date, their previous relationship, who initiated the encounter, whether a woman agreed to sex and later rescinded her decision, the use of alcohol, and others.

Another indicator of rape myth acceptance is sexual conservatism that "refers to restrictions on the appropriateness of sexual partners, sexual acts, conditions or circumstances under which sex should occur" (Burt, 1980, 218). Research by Jenkins and Dambrot (1987) shows men adhere to rape myths and are more traditional than women.

Furthermore, men who adhere to rape myths tend to have more sympathy for the perpetrator and tend to hold the victim partially responsible for the rape. This suggests that women have more sympathy for the victim and men for the perpetrator (Burt, 1980; Calhoun, Selby and Warring, 1976; Malmouth and Check, 1981). However, other research (Calhoun, Cann, Selby and Magee, 1981) indicates that there was no difference between men and women in rape myth acceptance. Therefore, one aspect of this study analyzed the difference in attitudes between men and women regarding rape myth acceptance. It was anticipated that, as in the United States, Lithuanian men would more closely adhere to rape myths than Lithuanian women.

In general, there has been little research done in Lithuania on attitudes toward sexual issues, violence and interpersonal communication during the Soviet period. To date, there has been no research on date rape. Therefore, this study is important for documenting the perceptions of this term as it was presented to the students in 1993 through this study, as well as for comparison with research in the United States. This research will be valuable to future researchers as a baseline with which to compare attitudes on date rape during the period immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the present. Though beyond the scope of this study, it is expected that with the opening of the society as a democratic country, Lithuanian's sexual attitudes will change.

Methodology

During the period of occupation by the Soviet Union, Lithuanian society was sheltered from outside influences.

While acquaintance rape issues were coming to the forefront in the United States and Western Europe in the 1980s, little to no research was conducted on rape in the Soviet Union. Following the reestablishment of Lithuanian independence in 1991, the country began the process of reorientation to a larger society. At the time this survey was conducted in April 1993, little information on this topic had been addressed. Prior to the survey, the researcher facilitated the first televised discussion on acquaintance rape at Vilnius Pedagogical Institute.

In 1991, there were no specific laws governing acquaintance rape in Lithuania. Culturally, the term rape referred to stranger rape only. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine: a) adherence to sexual scripts and sexual double standards b) whether this correlated to a high rape myth acceptance c) whether students at Vilnius University would consider forced sexual intercourse by an acquaintance to be rape d) what factors would determine perceptions of rape, and e) whether this would differ by gender.

A survey of students at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital was conducted. One hundred questionnaires were prepared and given to a group of the researcher's friends to distribute. A self-addressed stamp envelope was included. The respondents received no pay. An attempt was made to choose students with a variety of majors. The students ranged in age from seventeen to twenty-two. The sample varied in age, marital status, urban/rural background, academic major, age at first sexual intercourse, and the number of sexual partners; but these were not found to be relevant, because the sample was too small to be statistically significant. Approximately fifteen students who were asked to complete the survey declined once they were made aware of the topic. Of the surveys distributed, 67 percent were completed and received.

The questionnaire was first written in English. Then it was translated into Lithuanian and pre-tested for clarity with a group of students and researchers at the Vilnius University Women's Center.

A questionnaire was used in order to compare it to quantitative data already in the field. Since such topics were not regularly discussed in an open forum, it was felt a written survey would elicit the most honest responses. Furthermore, the anonymity of the individual would be maintained and the student could complete it at a convenient time. A quantitative approach would also reduce the chance for language misinterpretation.

The questionnaire consisted of six sections. The first consisted of a series of progressively more intimate scenarios to test double standards for women regarding consensual sexual activity. The participant was asked to rate the appropriateness of actions on a five-point Likert scale. The second consisted of a dating scenario in which the vignettes manipulated who initiated the date, where the couple went, whose dormitory room they went to, and who paid the expenses. The participant was asked whether a rape occurred and to rate the actions of the perpetrator and victim on a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaires did not use the word "rape," but instead stated that "sexual intercourse occurred against her will." The questions were designed to determine what variables changed the perception of rape, as well as the responsibility of the perpetrator and victim. The third section looked at what factors determined whether a rape occurred based on the question, "Do you think it is rape if...." followed by a series of statements to which the participant circled "yes," "no," or "don't know." The fourth section further probed rape myth acceptance by addressing the respondent's perception of women's motivation for falsely claiming rape. Additionally, though not the main focus of the study, questions were asked regarding the adequacy of the legal system, comfort level of communicating sexual likes and dislikes to partner, and attitudes toward birth control. The sections were placed in varied orders to avoid participant bias.

When the researcher returned to the United States, the data was statistically analyzed and then aggregated by gender to determine similarities or differences between men and women.

Results

To test for sexual conservatism and sexual double standard for women, Tables 1 and 2 show the appropriateness of kissing and having sex with another individual while in a relationship. The questions tested the type of relationship the person was in and whether that changed the appropriateness of the actions. The table is cross-tabulated by gender.

Table 1 Male and female responses to appropriateness of kissing another individual when involved in another relationship.

 

Kissing okay

Kissing not okay

Women

Men

Women

Men

Man dating woman and kisses another woman

58.9

81.4  

41.0

18.5

Woman dating man and kisses another man

61.6

70.3  

38.5

29.6

Man married and kisses another woman

15.5

1.8

84.7

 8.1

Woman married and kisses another man

25.7

37.0

74.3

62.9

Man married w/child and kisses another woman

 15.5

40.7

84.7

59.2

Woman married w/child and kisses another man

25.6

25.9

74.3

74.0

Man in unhappy marriage with child, 
married woman because pregnant, kisses another woman

71.3

92.5

28.2

7.4

Woman in unhappy marriage with child, married
man because pregnant, kisses another man

64.1

85.1

35.9

14.8

Table 2 Male and female responses to appropriateness of having sex with another individual when involved in another relationship.

 

Sex okay

Sex not okay

Women

Men

Women

Men

Man dating woman and kisses another woman

23.2

59.2 

76.9

40.7

Woman dating man and kisses another man

18.0

34. 6 

38.5

29.6

Man married and kisses another woman

  2.6

37.0

97.5

62.9

Woman married and kisses another man

  7.8

26.9

92.3

73.1

Man married w/child and kisses another woman

  2.6

28.7

96.9

71.0

Woman married w/child and kisses another man

7.8

7.4

92.3

92.6

Man in unhappy marriage with child, 
married woman because pregnant, kisses another woman

46.1

70.3

53.8

29.6

Woman in unhappy marriage with child, married
man because pregnant, kisses another man

38.5

70.3

61.5

29.6

The results from Tables 1 and 2 show there were differences in the acceptability of kissing or having sex with another person while in another relationship. For both men and women, the more committed the relationship the less acceptable it was to have an external encounter.

The only exception to this was in a situation where a man or woman is unhappily married, has a child, but married because the woman became pregnant. In this instance, the acceptability for the married man to have sex jumped from 28.7 percent to 70.3 percent for men and from 2.6 percent to 46.1 percent for women. The acceptability of a woman having an extramarital sexual encounter in the same situation also jumped from 7.4 percent to 70.3 percent for men and 7.8 percent to 38.5 percent for women.

The tables also demonstrated that there is a sexual double standard for women. This double standard is adhered to by men and women to varying degrees. For example, while 59.2 percent of the men felt it was acceptable for a man in a dating relationship to have sex with another woman, only 34.6 percent of the men approved of a sexual encounter for a woman in a similar relationship.

Women's responses varied more. While some answers seemed to support a sexual double standard for women (23.2 percent of the women thought is was okay for a man in a dating relationship to have sex with another woman, while only 18 percent of the women thought it appropriate for a woman to do), this was not always the case. In two responses, women were more accepting of a married woman, both with and without a child, having sex with another man (7.8 percent) than they were for men having sex with another woman (2.6 percent).

Another notable result was that 76.9 percent of the women thought sex was inappropriate for a man in a dating relationship, while only 40.7 percent of the men thought so. Women tended to be more sexually conservative than men in this area.

In response to questions about the acceptability of having sex outside of marriage, 10.3 percent of the women and 37 percent of the men thought it was acceptable with a casual acquaintance; 61.6 percent of the women and 66.6 percent of the men thought sex was acceptable within a relationship; and 89.4 percent of the women and 92.6 percent of the men thought sex was acceptable with a fiancé or fiancée.

In Tables 3 and 4, rape myth acceptance was tested. In all scenarios but one (when both are drunk and woman passes out), a higher percentage of women than men identified the situation as rape. For both men and women, when the man took the woman to an expensive opera, the percentage of respondents who viewed the episode as rape, dropped.

Alcohol also determined perceptions of rape. When a woman was drunk and the man sober, only 86.8 percent of the women felt a rape occurred compared to 94.9 percent when she is sober. For men the difference is even greater — 69.2 percent when the woman is drunk compared to 84.6 percent when sober.

Table 3 Percentage of male and female responses to various dating scenarios in which "sexual intercourse occurs against her will".

 

Yes

No

W

M

W

M

Movie and after she invites him to dorm for tea

94.9

84.6  

5.3

15.4

Movie and after he invites her to dorm for tea

92.3

84.6 

7.7

15.4

Expensive opera and after she invites him for tea

82.1

80.8

15.4

20.0

Party he's drunk, she's sober

94.9

84.6

5.1

15.4

Party she's drunk, he's sober

86.8

69.2

13.2

30.8

Both drunk

66.7

65.4

33.3

34.6

Both drunk: she passes out

87.2

88.5

12.8

11.5

Table 4 Male and female responses to "Do you think it is it rape if... and then a man forces her to have sex?"

Yes

No

Don't know

W

M

W

M

W

M

A woman wears suggestive clothing

82.1

73.1 

5.1

19.2

12.8

7.7

A woman goes to a man's room

74.4

80.8

10.3

3.8

15.4

15.4

A woman is not a virgin

79.5

88.5

7.7

7.7

12.8

3.8

A woman is a virgin

89.7

96.2

5.1

0.0

5.1

3.8

They are kissing

63.2

72.0

10.5

16.0

26.3

12.0

A woman allows a man to touch her breasts

42.1

50.0

26.3

26.9

31.6

23.1

A woman allows a man to touch her genitals

25.6

38.5

48.7

46.2

25.6

15.4

A woman touches a man's penis

26.3

34.6

57.9

46.2

15.8

19.2

A woman agrees to sex, but then changes her mind

30.8

19.2

41.0

57.7

28.2

23.1

A woman physically resists, but doesn't say no

44.7

53.8

26.3

16.9

28.9

19.2

A woman says no, but doesn't physically resist

17.9

26.9

53.8

61.5

28.2

11.5

A man and a woman have a serious relationship

48.7

46.2

20.5

34.6

30.8

19.2

A man and a woman are married

46.2

34.6

30.8

42.3

23.1

23.1

A man and a woman have had sex before

48.7

73.1

17.9

15.4

33.3

11.5

A woman spends the night at man's apartment

46.2

50.0

20.5

30.8

33.3

19.2

A woman leads a man to the bedroom

30.8

50.0

25.6

30.8

43.6

19.2

According to the results in Table 4, clothing, sexual status of the woman, levels of sexual foreplay and the relationship of the individuals all contribute to the perception of whether a rape occurred. Physically resisting was a stronger indicator for both men and women that a rape occurred, compared to saying "no," but not physically resisting.

One surprising result is that, overall, the men in the study were more likely than the women to affirm a situation as rape. The only variables in which more women than men answered "yes" to rape was when a woman wears suggestive clothing, a woman agrees to sex but then changes her mind, a man and a woman have a serious relationship, and a man and a woman are married. It needs to be pointed out that in seventy-five of the questions, women had higher "don't know" responses than men.

When asked whether women set sexual boundaries, but secretly wanted these boundaries broken by the man in a sexual relationship, 44.8 percent of the women and 42.9 percent of the men thought this was often done. When the women asked whether they have done this, only 11.5 percent replied they had.

Almost 74 percent of the women and 92 percent of the men thought that women wrongly accuse men of rape and 86.9 percent of the women and 84 percent of the men thought women claim rape to protect their reputation. When asked whether women claim rape to take revenge upon a man, 65.2 percent of the women and 70 percent of the men thought they did. Over 82 percent of the women and 88 percent of the men thought they felt comfortable making their sexual likes and dislikes known.

Discussion

This research tested for sexual conservatism and adherence to sexual scripts, sexual double standard, rape myth acceptance, variables that may influence perception of rape and perpetrator/victim responsibility, and within this differ by gender. Even though there has not been previous research on these topics in Lithuania, the results often paralleled those found in the United States.

In order to understand the context of the society, it was important to first look at the sexual norms of the country. Testing for sexual conservatism and adherence to sexual scripts, may give insight into attitudes concerning rape.

Not surprisingly, the respondents were much more likely to approve of a sexual relationship with one's fiance/fiancee (89.4 percent of the women and 92.6 percent of the men) than with a casual acquaintance (10.3 percent of the women and 37 percent of the men). It is interesting to note the wide gap between male and female perceptions in the last situation. This may imply women are more sexually conservative than men or that the cultural sexual script allows men to be more sexually promiscuous than women.

Both men and women respondents found that the more committed the relationship, the less acceptable it was to have a physical encounter with another person. The one exception, however, was if a man and woman are unhappily married, have a child, but married because the woman became pregnant. This was a predictable outcome based on the researcher's perception that the cultural norms of Lithuania, as a Catholic country, encourage a couple to marry if the woman becomes pregnant. In addition, it is the researcher's opinion that extramarital affairs are much more openly displayed in Lithuania than in the United States. Soviet society had built in benefits for married people, consequently, couples may marry for economic reasons, and therefore, extramarital affairs are tolerated.

As anticipated, the results for both men and women demonstrated a sexual double standard for women. Clothing, sexual status of the woman, levels of sexual foreplay and the relationship of the individuals all contributed to the perception of whether a rape occurred. The responses also indicate a double bind for women. Female assertiveness (she goes to his room and she touches his penis) negatively affected the respondent's answers to a rape occurring. Physical resistance was a stronger indicator for both men and women that a rape occurred, compared to saying "no," but not physically resisting. This may allude to a sexual bind that women are in. In Lithuania, there is a greater expectation for women than men to be chaste and act with restraint. It is not acceptable to be sexually assertive, therefore they may follow a sexual script in which token resistance to sex is voiced. Unfortunately, this behavior may reinforce sexual scripts and reduce the ability for women to say "no" and have it mean just that.

In testing for rape myth acceptance, the results of the vignettes shown in Table 3 demonstrated that more women than men were likely to identify situations as rape. As noted earlier, the percentage of respondents who viewed the episode as rape dropped when the man took the woman to an expensive opera. This supports Muehlenhard, Friedman, and Thomas' (1985) conclusions that rape was more justifiable if the man paid all the dating expenses rather than splitting the costs with the woman. This may suggest another sexual script of the culture in that by accepting a date, there is implied consent to a physical encounter. Yet that would not explain the difference between men and women's identification of rape scenarios. This disparity may instead demonstrate men's closer adherence to rape myths.

However, the results shown in Table 4 indicate just the opposite. In these questions, men were more likely than women to define a situation as rape. The difference in the outcome may be a result of the format of the questions. The questions in Table 4 asked non-situational, general questions regarding rape. Women who adhere to sexual scripts may be less likely to interpret a situation as rape if they subscribe to the "rules" or sexual scripts as defined by society. If society deems that it is inappropriate for a woman to lead a man to a bedroom and she does anyway; then perhaps she is supposed to know what she is getting into, and this is not rape. The high percentage of women who answered "don't know" suggests though, a significant level of uncertainty. Male respondents interpreted the situations as rape at a slightly greater percentage rate than women.

The realistic nature of the scenarios presented in Table 3 may have enabled the respondents to identify more closely with the situations and respond accordingly; thus the difference in outcomes. The female respondents may have identified themselves with the woman in the vignette and viewed the interaction as rape, while men identified themselves with the male and therefore did not see the situation as one where a rape occurred. However, the results are inconclusive and further research would be beneficial regarding adherence to sexual scripts and rape myth acceptance.

As expected, use of alcohol determined perceptions of rape. This supports Storm, Lang and Stritzke's (1997) research that found that a female victim's intoxication is viewed as grounds for her partial condemnation and responsibility for the occurrence of rape. This supports the researcher's observations that in Lithuanian culture it is less appropriate for a woman to become intoxicated than a man.

Muehlenhard, Powch, Phelps and Giusti (1992), in their research, found that definitions of rape are determined largely by the legal parameters of that culture. Surprisingly, 46.2 percent of the women and 34.6 percent of the men thought there could be rape in a marital relationship even though Lithuania does not have a strong precedent for rape cases among married couples and only 1.5 percent of the respondents would press charges for marital rape. This suggests that women and, to a lesser extent, men acknowledge sexual violence in intimate relationships as a crime even though they do not believe the legal system would support this view.

The results show that there is a varied perpetrator/victim responsibility, and the more assertive the woman's actions previous to the rape (such as sexual foreplay or leading a man to the bedroom) the more it negatively affected the perception of whether a rape occurred. Again, here it would suggest that deviating from the sexual script places additional responsibility on the part of the woman. Bridges and McGrail's (1989) research similarly demonstrated that males more often view rape as the victim's failure to control the situation.

Of great concern was the high percentage of respondents, both men and women, who believed women wrongly accused men of rape to protect the woman's reputation or to take revenge. This may be explained by either a high rape myth acceptance or close adherence to sexual scripts in which claiming rape may allow the woman to save face. Interestingly, while almost half of the women thought that women set sexual boundaries, but secretly want them broken by the man, only eleven and a half percent of the female respondents admitted doing so themselves. This disparity further supports a high rape myth acceptance. An area for future study would be to test whether women do indeed, falsely accuse men of rape or whether this is a myth.

Though not the main thrust of this research, perceptions of legal support for rape were also investigated. According to the study, 59.1 percent of the respondents would press charges for stranger rape, 27.3 percent for acquaintance rape, 3 percent for rape with one's partner, and only 1.5 percent for spousal rape. Most respondents (66.7 percent) were uncertain whether the legal system is adequate. Explanations for this high number may be attributed to the lack of discussion on this topic and the nationwide political change occurring in the country after the reestablishment of independence. Soviet laws were being reevaluated, so there may have been uncertainty of how the new Lithuanian judiciary would interpret rape laws. As expected, the higher the level of commitment in the relationship the less likely the victim would seek a legal course of action.

The present study is limited because the respondents were not chosen by random sampling and therefore may not be representing the whole population. However, date rape is an important issue and one long neglected because of Soviet rule and the strong role of religion in the country. Therefore, it is recommended that further research be conducted within the general population as well as comparisons made to other former Soviet or Soviet-occupied countries. Additionally, since this study was conducted in 1993, during a period of great instability, it would be valuable over time to map the changes in the societal perceptions about rape.

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Kerry Stromberg is a graduate student at the School for International Training. She lived in Lithuania from 1991-1993 and worked at the Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, DC as the Advisor for Educational and Cultural Affairs from 1994-1997. She would like to extend a special thanks to the Lithuanian Women's Study Centre at Vilnius University, Ms. Susan Anderson, Ph.D., Ms. Sherry Bowen, Ph.D., Villanova University, PA, Ms. Sandra Basgall, Ph.D, School for International Training and the individuals who distributed the questionnaire used. This research project is dedicated to Ms. Jacqueline Stromberg.