PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Giannina E. Cabral
MA-Research
August 2005

Self-Blame as a Mediator of Avoidance Coping Among Rape Survivors

    This study examined whether self-blame attributions mediate the relation between level of intimacy and avoidance coping among rape survivors. More specifically, this study attempted to examine whether self-blame attributions would damper the effect that level of intimacy (e.g., stranger rape, date rape) has on avoidance. Previously collected data from interviews of 104 female rape survivors were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. It was expected that rape survivors who were more intimately involved with their assailants would engage in more self-blame and use more avoidance than stranger rape survivors. Although the results did not support the proposed model, the results did show that women who self-blame also use avoidance coping. Results suggest a trend in the use of characterological self-blame among non-stranger rape survivors and among women who have been raped more than once by the same perpetrator. Discussion on the limitations as well as recommendations for future research is presented.

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