College students often confide in their friends following sexual assaults. Friends’ reactions may include a variety of emotions and helping behaviors; prior victimization, knowing the accused, and rape myth acceptance may affect these. A sample of 1016 students at a religiously affiliated university completed quantitative surveys measuring their rape myth acceptance, history of sexual assault victimization, disclosures received, and reactions to the most recent disclosure. A subset of 636 students (506 females, 130 males) reported receiving at least one rape disclosure from a friend. Regression analysis of the subset revealed that participants’ rape myth acceptance, victimization histories, and relationships to the accused influenced reactions to friends who were sexually assaulted. Students who endorsed rape myths were less likely to lend support to survivors; they were also more likely to experience shame and anger, and to blame their sexually assaulted friends. Students who shared friends with both the survivor and the accused were more likely to offer support to the survivor, experience feelings of divided loyalty, and blame the survivor. Blaming or feeling embarrassed toward survivors was associated with a tendency to advise them on how to avoid revictimization. This suggests that some disclosure recipients focused on their friend’s behavior to explain the sexual assault. Cognitive dissonance theory may partially explain the findings.

大学生经常在性侵犯后向朋友倾诉。朋友的反应可能包括各种情感和帮助行为；事先受害，认识被告以及强奸神话的接受都可能影响这些人。某宗教附属大学的1016名学生的样本完成了定量调查，这些调查测量了他们对强奸神话的接受程度，性侵犯受害的历史，收到的信息以及对最新信息的反应。据报告，有636名学生（506名女性，130名男性）的子集收到了至少一个朋友的强奸案。对子集的回归分析显示，参与者对强奸神话的接受，受害的历史以及与被告的关系影响了对受到性侵犯的朋友的反应。赞同强奸神话的学生不太可能向幸存者提供支持。他们也更有可能遭受羞辱和愤怒，并责备遭受性侵犯的朋友。与幸存者和被告分享朋友的学生更有可能向幸存者提供支持，经历忠诚度参差不齐的情况，并责怪幸存者。责备幸存者或使他们感到尴尬与倾向于向他们建议如何避免再次遭受伤害的趋势有关。这表明一些信息披露接收者将注意力集中在他们朋友的行为上，以解释性侵犯。认知失调理论可能部分解释了这一发现。与幸存者和被告分享朋友的学生更有可能向幸存者提供支持，经历忠诚度参差不齐的情况，并责怪幸存者。责备幸存者或使他们感到尴尬与倾向于向他们建议如何避免再次遭受伤害的趋势有关。这表明一些信息披露接收者将注意力集中在他们朋友的行为上，以解释性侵犯。认知失调理论可能部分解释了这一发现。与幸存者和被告分享朋友的学生更有可能向幸存者提供支持，经历忠诚度参差不齐的情况，并责怪幸存者。对幸存者大加指责或感到尴尬，往往会向他们提出如何避免再次受害的建议。这表明一些信息披露接收者将注意力集中在他们朋友的行为上，以解释性侵犯。认知失调理论可能部分解释了这一发现。