Communities Collide: Hate Crime Myth Acceptance in the Campus Context

Research on hate crime stereotypes is limited by the lack of a validated instrument to measure individual beliefs in hate crime stereotypes/myths. Additionally, while university campuses present critical grounds for crosscultural exposure, this work has not examined beliefs in hate crime stereotypes in university students. We present a pilot study to validate a novel scale and understand the prevalence of hate crime myth acceptance (HCMA) in the campus context. The findings indicate a relatively high level of HCMA and that anti-Black prejudicial attitudes, some anti-Jewish attitudes, and rape myth acceptance are associated with HCMA. The findings provide guidance for future research and preliminary information about the extent of hate crime myth acceptance in the campus context.