ABSTRACT
Modern myths about sexual aggression are contemporary beliefs that deny or justify male sexual aggression against women and downplay its consequences. They contribute to gender inequality and a rape-supportive culture. Modern myths about sexual aggression serve various functions: at the individual level, they serve as a cognitive schema for interpreting information about sexual aggression in a biased fashion (i.e., the cognitive function); for women, they also serve as a means to cope with the threat of sexual assault (i.e., the affective function); and for men, as a means to rationalise their own sexually aggressive tendencies (i.e., the behavioural function). In this chapter, we discuss research on the Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) scale. Specifically, we review research on AMMSA conducted over the last 15 years, addressing the nomological network of AMMSA and highlighting how AMMSA fulfils its cognitive, affective, and behavioural functions. Our review focuses on research including novel aspects, such as studying AMMSA in relation to the diversity of victims or adopting laboratory methods (e.g., eye-tracking; implicit attitude measurement) to study AMMSA and its associated cognitive processes in greater detail. We conclude with the presentation of a revised and shortened scale, the AMMSA-21, whose items reflect recent changes in public discourse about sexual aggression.
