Effects of Drinking by the Victim or Offender on Verdicts in a Simulated Trial of an Acquaintance Rape

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Abstract
College students, 232 women and 151 men, read a simulated trial of rape by an acquaintance under one of four conditions: victim only drinking, offender only drinking, and both drinking or neither drinking before the alleged assault. How much students blamed the victim or offender for what happened and their verdict were unaffected by these conditions. Yet students rated alcohol consumption as having contributed to the alleged assault. Apparently, they simply did not attribute blame to consuming alcohol. How much students blamed the victim and the offender and having been or having known a rape victim predicted jurors' verdicts with 89% accuracy.