THE SUBJECTS WERE 128 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN UNDERGRADUATE PSYCHOLOGY COURSES IN A SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY. THE SUBJECTS' AGES RANGED FROM 19 TO 36, WITH MOST BEING IN THEIR LATE TEENS AND EARLY TWENTIES. THERE WERE 64 MALES AND 64 FEMALES. A VIDEOTAPE WAS PRODUCED IN WHICH A 25-YEAR-OLD WHITE FEMALE PLAYED THE ROLE OF A STUDENT WHO WAS DESCRIBED AS HAVING BEEN RAPED SOME WEEKS BEFORE. THE VICTIM HAD HER BACK TO THE CAMERA, AND THE INTEVIEWER WAS ONLY PARTIALLY VISIBLE. AFTER BEING SEATED FACING THE VIEWING MONITOR, EACH SUBJECT WAS GIVEN A CASE DESCRIPTION OF THE RAPE INCIDENT AND THE RAPE VICTIM. THE DESCRIPTION WAS SIMILAR FOR SUBJECTS IN ALL CONDITIONS EXCEPT THAT INFORMATION ABOUT THE VICTIM'S PREVIOUS ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE RAPIST, WHETHER OR NOT SHE HAD BEEN RAPED BEFORE, AND NUMBER OF RAPES IN THE AREA WHERE THE RAPE OCCURRED WAS SYSTEMATICALLY VARIED. AFTER VIEWING THE VIDEOTAPE AND READING THE CASE DESCRIPTION, SUBJECTS RATED THE VICTIM ON THE FOLLOWING SCALES: (1) DEGREE TO WHICH THE RAPE WAS CAUSED BY HER PERSONALITY TRAITS, (2) DEGREE TO WHICH THE RAPE WAS CAUSED BY HER BEHAVIOR ON THE NIGHT OF THE RAPE, (3) DEGREE TO WHICH SHE WAS THE KIND OF PERSON WHO GETS HERSELF INTO SUCH SITUATIONS, AND (4) THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE RAPE WAS HER FAULT. RESULTS OF THE STUDY SHOWED THAT THE MALE RESPONDENTS VIEWED A RAPED WOMAN AS CONTRIBUTING TO THE RAPE TO A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER DEGREE THAN FEMALE RESPONDENTS. FURTHER, THE VICTIM WAS VIEWED AS HAVING PROVOKED THE RAPE MORE FREQUENTLY UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES OF HAVING BEEN PREVIOUSLY RAPED THAN HAVING BEEN RAPED FOR THE FIRST TIME. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED, ALONG WITH REFERENCES. (RCB)