THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY CONSENSUS ON RAPE EXISTS ACROSS SEX AND ETHNIC CATEGORIES. SAMPLES WERE DRAWN TO ALLOW FOR COMPARISONS BETWEEN AND AMONG THREE AUTONOMOUS SAMPLES OF WHITES, BLACKS, AND MEXICAN-AMERICANS. A TOTAL OF 335 WHITES, 336 BLACKS, AND 340 MEXICAN-AMERICANS FROM SAN ANTONIO, TEX., WERE INTERVIEWED PERSONALLY BY AN INDIVIDUAL OF THE SAME SEX AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND. MEASURES OF ATTITUDES ABOUT RAPE WERE BASED ON RESPONSES TO A SERIES OF SCENARIOS. RESPONDENTS WERE SHOWN A SERIES OF NINE CARDS, EACH CONTAINING A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A FORCED SEXUAL ENCOUNTER. THE WORDS 'CASE' AND 'RAPE' WERE NOT USED IN ORDER TO AVOID SUGGESTING POLICE CASES. LOW SCORES ON THE SCENARIOS WERE INDICATIVE OF LIBERAL-FEMINIST ATTITUDES ABOUT RAPE. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE HUSBAND-WIFE ENCOUNTER, ALL SCENARIOS MET THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF RAPE; THEY VARIED, HOWEVER, IN TERMS OF REPUTATION OF THE VICTIM, CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ASSAULT, USE OF WEAPON, INJURY, AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VICTIM AND ASSAILANT. WHITES HAD THE LOWEST SCORES ON THE SCENARIOS, AND WHITE MALES WERE CONSISTENTLY MORE LIBERAL IN THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD RAPE THAN FEMALES. THE TENDENCY FOR BLACK MALES TO EMERGE AS THE MOST CONSERVATIVE OR SKEPTICAL GROUP IN THEIR ATTITUDES ABOUT RAPE WAS NOT SUPRISING. ACROSS THE GAMUT OF FORCED SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS, ONLY THE STRANGER-TO-STRANGER RAPE WITH WEAPON AND INJURY WAS VIEWED CONSISTENTLY BY ALL SUBJECTS AS A GENUINE CASE OF RAPE. EVEN THEN, THERE WERE QUANTITATIVE DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSES THAT WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IN TERMS OF SEX AND ETHNICITY. SUPPORTING TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)