Culture, Cognition, and Consent: Who Perceives What, and Why, in 'Acquaintance Rape' Cases

75 Pages Posted: 22 Jul 2009 Last revised: 16 Apr 2013

Date Written: December 12, 2009

Abstract

This paper uses the theory of cultural cognition to examine the debate over rape-law reform. Cultural cognition refers to the tendency of individuals to conform their perceptions of legally consequential facts to their defining group commitments. Results of an original experimental study (N = 1,500) confirmed the impact of cultural cognition on perceptions of fact in a controversial acquaintance-rape case. The major finding was that a hierarchical worldview, as opposed to an egalitarian one, inclined individuals to perceive that the defendant reasonably understood the complainant as consenting to sex despite her repeated verbal objections. The effect of hierarchy in inclining subjects to favor acquittal was greatest among women; this finding was consistent with the hypothesis that hierarchical women have a distinctive interest in stigmatizing rape complainants whose behavior deviates from hierarchical gender norms. The study also found that cultural predispositions have a much larger impact on outcome judgments than do legal definitions, variations in which had either no or a small impact on the likelihood subjects would support or oppose conviction. The paper links date-rape reform to a class of controversies in law that reflect symbolic status competition between opposing cultural groups, and addresses the normative implications of this conclusion.

Keywords: cultural cognition, criminal law, rape

Suggested Citation

Kahan, Dan M., Culture, Cognition, and Consent: Who Perceives What, and Why, in 'Acquaintance Rape' Cases (December 12, 2009). University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Forthcoming, CELS 2009 4th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies Paper, Yale Law School, Public Law Working Paper No. 196, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1437742

Dan M. Kahan (Contact Author)

Yale Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.culturalcognition.net/kahan

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