Rape in Finland: elicitating pluralistic ignorance through behavioral games

Abstract

This is a study of the perceptions Finnish people have of rape and norms considering rape in Finnish society. 303 individuals answered a survey with 32 questions considering the respondents' personal characteristics and their perceptions on certain aspects of rape. We analyzed the data for statistical differences for misperceptions of current social norms and differences for female and male respondents' replies. We detected significant differences amongst sexes in the evaluation of frequency on rape and misperceptions of social norms considering rapes for both females and males. Females estimated a higher number for the crime occurrence in their social circle than males. Both females and males underestimated the level of seriousness their fellow citizens had towards rape and overestimated the prevalence of victim blaming and immigrant blaming for the issue. We concluded that these misperceptions caused by pluralistic ignorance should be attended to in order to help in rape prevention.