Five Decades of Research on Rape Myths and Victim Interpretation

Over the past 5 decades of social science research, scholars have examined false narratives and beliefs associated with rape and sexual assault (often called "rape myths"). This scoping review employs an innovative technique to sample and describe a large cohort of scholarly articles that investigate sexual assault victim interpretation and rape myths between the years 1973 and 2025. We describe how the field has gone through innovations such as the development of rape myth measurement scales, experimental and field research designs, an increasing emphasis on rape myths in legal contexts, and a broadening exploration of the types of victims affected by rape myths. We discuss trends such as the association between gender and rape myths, and common theoretical explanations for their persistence. We further highlight current gaps in the literature and offer areas where future research can expand current knowledge.