{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03394006835704634, 'fraction_numerical': 0.017089261584929655, 'mean_word_length': 5.295471603702777, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 5, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 3, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
UNDERSTANDING RAPE MYTH ACCEPTANCE: THE IMPACT OF AMBIVALENT SEXISM AND CONSERVATISM IN SURABAYA

This study aims to analyze the impact of ambivalent sexism and conservatism on rape myth acceptance. Using a quantitative survey approach, this study assessed rape myth acceptance in a sample from Surabaya to represent urban societies in Indonesia. Ambivalent sexism towards women is constructed with hostile sexism (women are cunning) and benevolent sexism (women are weak and should be protected), measured by the Extended Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (α = .88). The Conservatism Scale measured beliefs to maintain traditional values and oppose changes (α = .77). Rape myth acceptance was measured by a vignette scale developed by researchers with two scenarios: the victim is familiar or non-familiar to the perpetrator (α = .87). Data from 381 respondents aged 18-40 years were collected and analyzed using Pearson correlation, ANOVA, t -test, and hierarchical linear regression. Results show that rape myth acceptance familiar scenario is influenced by conservatism and hostile sexism ( R 2 = .11; F (4, 380) = 12.49 p < .001). Rape myth acceptance non-familiar scenario is also influenced by conservatism and hostile sexism ( R 2 = .15; F (4, 380) = 17.14, p < .001). Individuals who hold hostile sexism attitude toward women and rigidly maintain traditional values tend to believe in rape myths. This research encourages structured and sustainable social interventions to dismantle rape myth acceptance, conservatism, and sexism towards women in Indonesian society.


INTRODUCTION
Rather than receiving help, female sexual violence victims are often blamed and left unsupported. This circumstance is caused by biases and distorted attitudes towards violence toward women (Dworkin et al., 2019). Rape is one form of sexual violence against women in Indonesia (Komisi Nasional Perempuan;Komnas Perempuan, 2014). For example, the Records of Violence Against Women (CATAHU) showed Surabaya as the capital city of East Java, ranked third nationally with 1,944 cases (Komnas Perempuan, 2019). However, the reported cases do not reflect the actual number of sexual violence cases in Indonesia. Many cases are not reported as the victims are still struggling with post-rape psychological impacts such as anxiety, suicidal behavior, and fear of experiencing secondary victimization from the society (Komnas Perempuan, 2019;O'Donohue, 2019;Lusiana et al., 2017;Bieneck & Krahé, 2011).
Secondary victimization from society makes rape-victims feel more psychologically burdened (Dworkin et al., 2019). Secondary victimization is negative treatment towards victims, either by blaming them as the cause of the rape, inquiring and criticizing their sexual behavior history, or discouraging them from prosecuting perpetrators (Connor et al., 2017). Secondary victimization is common in Indonesia; for instance, the chairman of the House of Representatives of the Republic Indonesia (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) and one official from a university in Indonesia stated rape as a voluntary reaction by men who are tempted by the appearance of their victims. Such a biased statement indicates a victim-blaming attitude, where the attribution of responsibility is placed on the victim but not on the rapist (Bruggen & Grubb, 2014;Yolandasari & Sumampouw, 2013). Secondary victimization severely harms sexual violence crime management; therefore, professionals involved in handling rape cases, such as police and judicial officers, psychologists, healthcare workers, media, and members of society, should be aware of their personal beliefs. Each may have subjective views about rape, which impact on decision-making and how they treat perpetrators and victims. When these parties hold rape biased beliefs, they would likely blame and subject victims to secondary victimization. As a result, victims would be left feeling unsupported and more reluctant to report the crime in order to avoid further victimization (Lusiana et al., 2017;Russel & Hand, 2017). Additionally, the high level of distrust in the law enforcement system often prevents victims from reporting and processing rape cases (O'Donohue, 2019; Garza & Franklin, 2021).
Rape myth acceptance is a distorted belief that instigates secondary victimization, which is often used to deny violence endured by women and justify male sexual control and aggression against women (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994). Rape myth acceptance induces blaming victim attitude in the community; as a result, victims may choose to retract the case and cover up the violence since it is considered a disgrace (Bhuptani & Messman-Moore, 2019). Rape myths are erroneous thinking shaped by sexism and conservatism (Grubb & Turner, 2012;Lambert & Raichle, 2015;Poerwandari et al., 2019). Rape myths exist due to society's control over women's sexuality, particularly for upholding traditional gender norms. The absence of a critical stance in society will create a social environment that preserves rape myths (Hayes et al., 2013). Rape myth acceptance maintains biases or myths that all rapists are strangers and only those considered as 'sexually provocative women' are victims; female rape victims are often judged as liars, even as the crime culprit (Pinciotti & Orcutt, 2021). However, studies found that predominantly rape perpetrators are familiar with victims than strangers (Yolandasari & Sumampouw, 2013). Furthermore, Grub and colleagues (2009;2012) claimed that the public's perception would differ due to the victim-perpetrator relationship. When the victim knows the perpetrator, the victim would likely be blamed or considered partly responsible for the rape. Society's empathy toward femalerape victims would be lowered when she was raped by people familiar to her compared to victims with unknown perpetrators. Rape myth acceptance emerges from an excessive sexist view, which produces biases into blaming the victim and the situation, but not the perpetrators (Grubb & Turner, 2012).
Rape myth acceptance is primarily found in sexist societies, particularly where oppressions towards women are prevalent. Ambivalent sexism is biased attitudes and behaviors towards others based on their gender, which could be negative or positive (Chapleau et al., 2007). According to Glick & Fiske (1996), 'ambivalent sexism theory' distinguishes between hostile and benevolent sexism. Hostile sexism is a negative genderbiased attitude and behavior (Mikołajczak & Pietrzak, 2015), while benevolent sexism is a positive gender-biased attitude towards women and often seen as not violating the traditional gender roles norms (Mikołajczak & Pietrzak, 2015). Angelone and colleagues (2021) found an association between ambivalent sexism and rape myth acceptance, but only hostile sexism was positively correlated with rape myth acceptance.
Benevolent sexism is related to rape myth acceptance when a rape case happens between the victim and perpetrator that know each other (Viki et al., 2004;Persson & Dhingra, 2020). A sexist attitude can lead to victim-blaming and permissive attitudes towards perpetrators. Permissiveness may reduce perceived guilt/responsibility placed on perpetrators and even further might impact on reducing a prison sentence/punishment for rape perpetrators (Chapleau et al., 2007). Amandasari and Margaretha (2019) found a stronger association between benevolent sexism and victim-blaming when the female-victim is considered to have been misbehaving according to gendered-woman expected roles; consequently, such a female-victim would not deserve protection or respect.
Conservatism was also found to influence rape myth acceptance. Conservative individuals will adhere to traditional gender roles, in which they believe that women's interests should not be equalized with family interests. In other words, women's aspirations should be sacrificed when it comes to family interests (Supriyantini, 2002).
Conservatism also maintains traditional values in the sexual interaction, where sexuality is perceived as a give and take mechanism (men give and women receive). As a result, conservative individuals will reject the idea of coercion within intimate sexual relations; victims themselves must be held accountable for their sexual violence (Burt, 1980). In Indonesia, conservatism seems to work as an oligarchy, where groups with stronger political power impose control on groups considered weaker (Wahid, 2014). As a result, women are often perceived as weaker than men, and a lack of critical thinking in understanding rape myths could generate additional societal pressures toward female-rape victims.
The deconstruction of society's biases and negative attitudes toward female-rape victims is greatly needed, which is critical when assisting victims of sexual violence crime and endorsing a more proactive helping behavior, not blaming victims. This change is especially critical during adulthood, where individuals are required to develop new attitudes, views, and values by considering their experiences and social roles in society (Hurlock, 2011). However, from the behavioral perspective, little empirical evidence is known about biases and distorted gender perspectives in Indonesian society; further studies are needed.
In the light of previous studies, it can be assumed that ambivalent sexism, both hostile and benevolent sexism, are associated with biased-attitudes towards rape. This study aimed to determine whether conservatism and ambivalent sexism influence rape myth acceptance of female victims. It is hypothesized that ambivalent sexism and conservatism influence the rape myth acceptance. This study also examined the impact of sociodemographic factors (age, gender, and education) on the association. Results from this study are expected to provide inputs for improving strategies in managing sexual violence cases in Indonesia.

METHOD
This study used a quantitative method via an online survey distributed on social media (Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp) from December 2019 to January 2020. True random sampling could not be used in this study, as this study's topic is a sensitive issue; nevertheless, this study collected data from 348 adults who consented to join this study. Due to a lack of representation in the distribution, three subjects from late adulthood were excluded. Respondents were 341 (female = 271 (71.12%), male = 110 (28.88%) people from early-middle adulthood between age 18 to 40 years (Santrock, 2012) in Surabaya (with educational background Highschool = 225 (59%); Diploma = 29 (7.61%); Bachelor = 115 (30.18%); Master = 10 (2.58%).
Ambivalent sexism was measured by the Extended Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (EASI; Mikolajczak & Pietrzak, 2015). The EASI consists of 25 items (α = .88), which measured two dimensions, hostile sexism (e.g., "Women pretend to act kindly to interfere other people's private affairs") and benevolent sexism (e.g., "Every man ought to have a woman he adores"). This scale is presented using a Likert scale with seven response options ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Conservatism was measured using the Conservatism Scale developed by Everett (2013) consisting of 21 items (α = .77), which refers to four dimensions, namely: traditions and norms in society (e.g., "Individuals should preserve their virginity before marriage"), position in society (e.g., "Natives should have special rights over immigrants"), rights of self-determination in society (e.g., "I believe in theories which explain human origins scientifically"), and community authority (e.g., "When an individual commits a crime and harms the community, they deserve a death sentence"). This scale is presented using a Likert scale with seven response options ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree.
Rape myth acceptance was measured using a vignette scale consisting of 20 items (α = .87) in two controlled-parallel scenarios; 1) the victim knows the perpetrator (familiar), 2) the victim does not know the perpetrator (non-familiar). The vignette scale adopted the narrative projection method. After reading the texts, participants were asked to choose one out of five response statements that describe their beliefs. Each statement describes the level of myth acceptance that appears in the narrative. An example from a scenario where the victim and perpetrator do not know each other: "One day, Chika ordered a motorcycle taxi to take her home from school. Chika who was wearing slightly revealing clothes was raped by the driver". Respondents were given options (1 = The rape was the driver's fault, 2 = The rape was not entirely Chika's fault, 3 = The rape was not their fault, 4 = The rape was not entirely the driver's fault, 5 = The rape was Chika's fault). The vignette method was used since it has more ability to reveal genuine affective responses (as it has projective features) compared to other cognitive attitude scales; thus, it was used to reduce potential social desirability bias.
This study applied correlation analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), t-test, and hierarchical linear regression. The regression tested the contribution of hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and conservatism dimensions on rape myth acceptance. ANOVA and t-test were used to examine the impact of sociodemographic on variables. All data analyses were performed with SPSS version 22.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
This study assessed ambivalent sexism, conservatism, and rape myth acceptance (see table 1). On average, respondents' conservatism levels were moderate, with each dimension's score ranging from slightly agree to neutral. On the tradition dimension, respondents generally maintained traditional values. With regard to ambivalent sexism, most respondents reported a less hostile sexism attitude and moderate benevolent sexism attitude. As for the rape myth acceptance vignette, most respondents reported disapproval toward rape myths in both familiar and non-familiar scenarios. Results indicate that even though the rape myth acceptance and antipathy towards women are relatively low, women tend to be seen as fragile among these moderately conservative samples.
According to Grub and Turner (2012), gender is significant in determining one's attitude and perception towards female-rape victims. This finding suggests males positioned themselves as observers when interpreting and making judgments on rape against women based on their existing cognitive and intuitive schemas, making them more prone to myths, especially when they lack critical perspective-taking ability.  The results of correlation analysis showed a positive relationship between conservatism and ambivalent sexism towards rape myth acceptance (see Table 1). Stronger ambivalent sexism and conservatism are associated with higher rape myth acceptance. This finding is consistent with the research of Glick & Fiske (1996), who found hostile sexism cultivates rape myth acceptance. This study supports empirical evidence that ambivalent sexism is one of the roots of rape myth acceptance (Chapleau et al., 2007), and there is an association between hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and rape myth acceptance.
A hierarchical regression test was performed to examine the relative influence of conservatism and ambivalent sexism on rape myth acceptance for both familiar and nonfamiliar perpetrators (see Table 2). Model 1 was tested to see the influence of conservatism, while model 2 was to identify the role of ambivalent sexism on rape myth acceptance, controlling for gender. Results showed that conservatism had a higher contribution to influencing rape myth acceptance than ambivalent sexism (conservatism 9% -13% and hostile sexism 1%). Regardless of the relationship between victim and perpetrator (familiar or nonfamiliar), this study found that rape myth acceptance was influenced by conservatism and hostile sexism toward women. .06 .03 .12 .05 .02 .12 Notes. N = 381. PiS = Position in Society; RSDS = Rights of Self-Determination in Society; HM = Hostile Sexism. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 Conservative individuals believe that women should be submissive to men and are susceptible to accepting rape myths; thus, they are more likely to blame rape victims (Wells & Twenge, 2005). Conservatism also influences society to maintain traditional values which deny that sexual relations occur because of coercion. Therefore, female-rape victims must be held accountable and do not deserve any sympathy (Burt, 1980). Without critical thinking and perspective-taking ability, conservative values can turn into hatred; rape victims who are seen to deviate from traditional gendered-norms before the rape attacks are more likely to be blamed by a conservative society (Gravelin et al., 2019).
The main finding of this study is that conservatism has a significant impact on rape myth acceptance. There are two dimensions of conservatism related to rape myth acceptance, namely: position in society and rights of self-determination in society. Position in society underlines that individual in society are not equal. According to Amandasari and Margaretha (2019), men are considered strong and dominant in a patriarchal society, while women are considered weak, and their roles are primarily limited to domestic affairs. This gender-biased view emphasizes that males as the superior party are dominant in regulating and making decisions for females as the weak party (Everett, 2013). These biasedviews may develop into myths where men are seen as naturally better leaders than women, and women are expected to obey men as their leaders. When sexual violence occurs, individuals who believe such myths will accept violence, tolerate the perpetrator, and even blame the victim; this is the damaging impact of rape myth acceptance (Wells & Twenge, 2005).
In the dimension of rights of selfdetermination in society, Everett (2013) explained that individuals desire to do violent things because their actions are primarily based on emotion rather than logic. Rights of self-determination may contradict rights restrictions over rules regarding how one should treat his/her partners and perform sexual acts, also, what conditions and circumstances are required for such sexual behavior to occur. In general, sexual relations between men and women are seen as normal and acceptable (Hapsari & Ginanjar, 2014). However, when it comes to rights of selfdetermination, ardent conservative individuals cannot apprehend the concept of forced sex within an intimate relationship. Consequently, they tend to ignore the victim's side of the story and reject the notion that sex occurred without consent. They hold close to the belief that the victim is solely or partly responsible for the rape incident. Such a conservative attitude from society may hinder the victim's effort to report the crime or even silence the victim completely.
Hostile sexism was a substantial contributing factor of rape myth acceptance for both familiar and non-familiar cases. This study confirmed previous studies which found that sexism is a predictor of rape myth acceptance, and ambivalent sexism could be accounted for to explain sexist attitudes (Chapleau et al., 2007;Persson et al., 2018;Viki et al., 2004). The greater the rape myth acceptance, the more likely society will blame even socially-punish female-rape victims while holding a more tolerant attitude toward male-perpetrators, even further reducing their sentences or covering up their crime (Chapleau et al., 2007).
According to Glick & Fiske (1996), hostile sexism describes women as inferior in agentic ability and competence, but they also carry manipulative abilities towards men. As a result, society holds hostility and condescending attitudes towards women, and this bias is considered a rejection towards negative attributes of women. This finding aligns with Suarez and Gadalla's study (2010), which found a strong relationship between rape myth acceptance and hostile sexism or aggressive behavior towards women. Furthermore, the hatred and rejection toward women would be even more severe when women are perceived as not performing their expected gender roles in society (Chapleau et al., 2007).
Another important finding is that gender plays a significant role in determining one's positive and negative views towards femalerape victims. This study found that men significantly have a stronger rape myth acceptance than women. Victim blaming is mainly held by men, and men are also blamed when they become victims of sexual violence (Ferrão & Gonçalves, 2015;Harber et al., 2015;Hockett et al., 2016). According to Chapleau et al. (2007), a man's perception towards female-rape victims may be prosocial or harsh rejection which depends on his personal expectations towards women; women are perceived to deserve respect and compassionate treatment if they behave and act according to the expected roles based on the stereotypes the man holds to believe. On the contrary, a man will be disrespectful and even blame women for the rape that happened to them when they are perceived to behave not according to his norms or beliefs. This study provides empirical evidence that The Impact of Ambivalent Sexism and Conservatism in Surabaya Jurnal Psikologi, 2022 (April), Vol. 21(1), 23-34 generally, men in this study are prone to impose their expectations on women, resulting in a higher risk of accepting rape myths.
Another sexual behavior myth is that men are generally described as more active and dominant in sexual relations, while women are more passive or expected to serve men; men are perceived as strong, dominant, and aggressive individuals while women are submissive, weak and fragile individuals (Espinoza, 2016;Moor, 2010). Therefore, when a woman does not behave sexually according to stereotyped gender role expectations, she deserves to be punished and is held responsible for the rape. Unfortunately, these biased beliefs exist in this modern time as people have been controlling women's sexuality by upholding traditional gender norms, creating an environment where rape myths are cultivated and continually preserved by society (Hayes et al., 2013).
However, it should be noted that limitations of this study should be addressed in future research. For example, self-reporting scales for sexism and conservatism may be tempered by the social-desirability effect (over-reporting or under-reporting). Additionally, it was challenging to use true random sampling in this study as it relates to a sensitive issue. Furthermore, rape myth acceptance still needs further study since it has not been widely studied in Indonesia. Nevertheless, one of the strong points of this study is the achievement in developing a vignette scale as an instrument for assessing rape myth acceptance in Bahasa Indonesia. This vignette scale is appropriate for measuring rape myth biases with familiar and non-familiar perpetrators. Future studies are expected to adopt this vignette scale approach for revealing genuine affective answers from respondents.
The findings of this study underline the importance of social engineering (social intervention) to deconstruct overly strong conservatism and hostile sexism in society in Indonesia. Educational programs and mixedsocial interaction, both formally and informally, should be facilitated to dismantle conservatism and sexism. Furthermore, people in the community should be encouraged to provide support and not blame the victim. In addition, other than providing support and counselling to victims, mental health experts should also contribute to designing social interventions to avert rape myth acceptance through psychoeducation, particularly for males. In the future, it is expected that people in society would think critically and be able to deconstruct rape myths, actively take part in supporting victims, and prioritize actions for ending sexual violence. Finally, it is imperative to progress collectively and systematically in order to create a synergistic effort to prevent sexually violent crimes against women in Indonesia.

CONCLUSION
This study provides a piece of empirical evidence that rape myth acceptance is influenced by conservatism and sexism. Conservatism and hostile sexist attitudes could lead to a victim-blaming mindset and permissiveness toward sexual violence offenders. Conservatism is a substantial contributing factor in biased thinking of rape myth acceptance. Without critical thinking, conservative people who rigidly sustain roles and expectations of gender differences tend to be less empathetic towards female-rape victims, especially when the victim's behavior is perceived to deviate from traditional values and expected gender norms. Another important finding of this study is that gender also plays a role in influencing rape myth acceptance in Indonesian society; men are more likely to accept such myths and blame female-rape victims. Therefore, further research is needed to study and develop social intervention strategies to deconstruct conservatism and hostile sexism toward women, especially among men, in societies in Indonesia.