The participants included 64 men and 68 women ages 21 and over, who were recruited through advertisements in the University of Washington student newspaper, as well as 43 male and 42 female students in introductory psychology classes. The study used a two-by-two design in which the subjects read a story depicting a social interaction between a heterosexual couple that results in an acquaintance rape. Assailants and victims consumed alcohol or soft drinks. The four versions of the story varied only on the topic of who consumed alcohol or a soft drink over the course of a date. Findings revealed that for both age groups, alcohol consumption, especially by the assailant, appeared to decrease the belief that a rape had occurred. However, for all versions of the story, the assailant was attributed a high degree of responsibility and the victim a moderate amount. In contrast to other findings, this study did not find that an alcohol-consuming rape victim was ascribed more sexual traits than a nondrinking victim. Results demonstrated that the drinking status of the victim and assailant in an acquaintance rape situation affect judgments of their behavior and traits. However, these judgments change as a function of the subjects' age and background characteristics. Tables and 12 references