Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Expectancies for Sexually Abused Children: Evidence of Perceiver Bias

  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigated perceiver bias in relation to children labeled as sexually abused. Building on recent research indicating that adults perceive children with such a label as having more behavioral problems and lower achievement, we replicated and expanded upon an earlier study. We tested undergraduate students (N = 699), who judged a six-year old child's aggressive behavior in vignettes that varied on severity of the aggressive behavior, child gender, and family history (sexually abused, mother dying of cancer, normal). Perceiver bias was related to family history label for internalizing behavior problems and competence issues and child gender for internalizing behavior problems and externalizing behavior problems. Implications for educators and practitioners are discussed as well as routes for future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
€32.70 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychological Association. (1992). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 47, 1597–1611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, K., Hubbs-Tait, L., Culp, R. E., & Blankemeyer, M. (1995). Perceiver bias in expectancies for sexually abused children. Family Relations, 44, 291–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, K., Hubbs-Tait, L., Culp, R. E., & Moore, S. A. (1994). Sexual abuse label: Adults' expectations for children. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 22, 304–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bromfield, R., Bromfield, D., & Weiss, B. (1988). Influence of the sexually abused label on perceptions of a child's failure. Journal of Educational Research, 82, 96–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broussard, S., Wagner, W. G., & Kazelskis, R. (1991). Child sexual abuse: Who is to blame? Child Abuse and Neglect, 12, 563–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryan, L. R., Coleman, M., Ganong, L. H., & Bryan, S. H. (1986). Person perception: Family structure as a cue for stereotyping. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 169–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catell, R. B. (1966). The scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 245–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conte, J. R., & Schurman, F. (1987). Factors associated with an increased impact of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 11, 201–211.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Culp, R. E., Cook A. S., & Housely, P. (1983). A comparison of observed and reported adult-infant interactions: Effects of perceived sex. Sex Roles, 9, 475–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dornbusch, S. M., Hastorf, A. H., Richardson, S. A., Myzzy, R. E., & Vreeland, R. S. (1965). The perceiver and the perceived: Their relative influence on categories of interpersonal perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 434–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, A. H., Ashmore, R. D., Makhijani, M. G., & Longo, L. C. (1991). What is beautiful is good, but... : A meta-analysis of research on the physical attractiveness stereotype. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 109–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Owens, R. G., & Dewey, M. E. (1987). Attitudes of health professionals to child sexual abuse and incest. Child Abuse and Neglect, 11, 109–116.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Everson, M. D., Hunter, W. M., Runyan, D. K., Edelsohn, G. A., & Coulter, M. L. (1989). Maternal support following disclosure of incest. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59, 197–207.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M. (1986). Perceptions of stepparents: Variation in stereotypes as a function of current family structure. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 537–543.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D. (1990). Early and long-term effects of child sexual abuse: An update. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 21, 325–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D. (1998). A comparison of the responses of preadolescents and adolescents in a national victimization survey. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13, 362–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D., & Dziuba-Leatherman, J. (1994). Victimization of children. American Psychologist, 49, 173–183.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gorey, K. M., & Leslie, D. R. (1997). The prevalence of child sexual abuse: Integrative review adjustment for potential response and measurement biases. Child Abuse and Neglect, 21, 391–398.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, H., & Nuttall, R. (1993). Clinician responses to sexual abuse allegations. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17, 127–143.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, H. F. (1958). The varimax criterion for analytical rotation in factor analysis. Psychometrika, 23, 187–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H. (1967). Attribution theory in social psychology. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on Motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

  • Kelley, H. H. (1973). The process of causal attribution. American Psychologist, 28, 107–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendall-Tackett, K., Williams, L., & Finkelhor, D. (1993). Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 164–180.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, D., Nash, S. C., & Brucken, L. (1978). Sex role concepts of two-and tree-year-olds. Child Development, 49, 445–451.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martinko, M. J., & Thomson, N. F. (1998). A synthesis and extension of the Weiner and Kelley attribution models. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 20, 271–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mcnard, K. S., & Ruback, R. B. (2003). Prevalence and processing of child sexual abuse: A multi-data-set analysis of urban and rural counties. Law and Human Behavior, 27, 385–402.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, L. Z. (1982). Judging a book by its cover: A cognitive analysis of the relationship between physical appearance and stereotyping. In A. H. Hastorf & A. M. Isen (Eds.), Cognitive social psychology (pp. 149–211). New York: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, S., & Greene, E. (1992). Juror and expert knowledge of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 595–613.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nuttall, R., & Jackson, H. (1994). Personal history of childhood abuse among clinicians. Child Abuse and Neglect, 18, 455–472.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Park, B., & Judd, C. M. (1989). Agreement on initial impressions: Differences due to perceivers, trait dimensions and target behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 493–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prentice, D. L., & Carranza, E. (2004). Sustaining cultural beliefs in the face of their violation: The case of gender stereotypes. In M. E. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundations of culture (pp. 259–280). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandler, I. N., Reynolds, K. D., Kliewer, W., & Ramirez, R. (1992). Specificity of the relation between life events and psychological symptomatology. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 240–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spaccarelli, S. (1994). Stress, appraisal, and coping in child sexual abuse: A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 340–362.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tong, L., Oates, K., & MacDonald, G. (1987). Personality development following sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 11, 371–383.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trute, B., Adkins, E., & MacDonald, G. (1992). Professional attitudes regarding the sexual abuse of children: Comparing police, child welfare and community mental health. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 359–368.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman, M. M. (1993). Child sexual abuse and gender differences: Attitudes and prevalence. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17, 539–547.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Environmental Studies, Central Michigan University, 205 Wightman Hall, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859

    Tara Saathoff-Wells Ph.D. (Assistant Professor)

  2. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

    Rex E. Culp Ph.D., J.D. (Professor and Endowed Chair)

  3. Department of Psychology, The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NB

    Candace T. Yancey M. A. (Graduate Student)

Authors
  1. Tara Saathoff-Wells Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rex E. Culp Ph.D., J.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Candace T. Yancey M. A.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tara Saathoff-Wells Ph.D..

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Saathoff-Wells, T., Culp, R.E. & Yancey, C.T. Expectancies for Sexually Abused Children: Evidence of Perceiver Bias. J Child Fam Stud 14, 487–503 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-005-7184-0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-005-7184-0

Key Words

Search

Navigation