Research on attitudes toward Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) consistently shows that men are more likely to endorse myths about CSA events, victims and perpetrators, compared to women. Here we present two studies that examine why these gender differences occur. Study one (N = 439) followed a dispositional approach to test the mediating role of empathy, social dominance orientation (SDO) and propensity for moral disengagement in the association between gender and the endorsement of CSA myths. Male participants showed higher levels of SDO and propensity for moral disengagement, and lower empathy, which in turn were associated with greater CSA myths acceptance. Study two (N = 360) followed a situational approach to test these processes using a specific case of CSA. Male participants showed higher levels of SDO and lower empathy, which in turn were associated with lower scores of perceived assault seriousness, victim credibility, perpetrator culpability, and greater victim culpability. Overall, the results suggest that men and women may appraise CSA differently, which can be partly explained by differences in SDO, propensity to morally disengage, and empathy. Furthermore, different cognitive mechanisms may be activated with regard to general appraisals of CSA compared to specific cases of CSA.

对儿童性虐待 (CSA) 态度的研究一致表明，与女性相比，男性更有可能支持关于 CSA 事件、受害者和肇事者的神话。在这里，我们提出了两项​​研究来检验原因出现这些性别差异。研究一 (N = 439) 采用倾向性方法来测试同理心、社会支配取向 (SDO) 和道德脱离倾向在性别与支持 CSA 神话之间的关联中的中介作用。男性参与者表现出更高水平的 SDO 和道德脱离接触倾向，以及较低的同理心，这反过来与更大的 CSA 神话接受度有关。研究二 (N = 360) 采用情景方法使用特定的 CSA 案例来测试这些过程。男性参与者表现出较高的 SDO 水平和较低的同理心，这反过来与较低的感知攻击严重性、受害者可信度、肇事者罪责和更大的受害者罪责分数相关。总体而言，结果表明男性和女性对 CSA 的评价可能不同，这可以部分解释为 SDO 的差异、道德脱离的倾向和同理心。此外，与特定的 CSA 病例相比，对于 CSA 的一般评估，可能会激活不同的认知机制。