Fraternity membership, rape myths, and sexual aggression on a college campus.

This study examines whether male support groups, specifically fraternities, supports the victimization of women, and the extent of its relationship to alcohol use. 119 self-administered questionnaires were analyzed. Among male subjects, 93.3% were Whites with an average age of 20.5 years; approximately 22% of this sample were members of fraternities. After analysis of data, the hypothesis, which states that fraternity men were more likely to hold rape myths than non-fraternity men, was rejected. It was further revealed that fraternity men are not different from other men on a variety of measures. However, the existence of a male peer support system for the victimization of women was evident in this study. Moreover, the strong relationship between heavy drinking and admission as a sexual aggressor revealed in this study should alert rape educators on college campuses to make alcohol education a high priority in their anti-rape efforts.