Survivor or Victim: Labels and Crime-Type Interact to Influence Perceiver Impressions of Psychological Pain and Hardship

Abstract

Many women are the targets of sexual violence, and while the psychological distress and physical pain experienced by people who have been sexually assaulted are well-documented, less research has used experimental designs to evaluate factors in how perceivers understand the pain and hardship of women who have experienced sexual assault. Furthermore, the labels commonly used for targets of sexual violence (i.e., “victim” and “survivor”) carry differing connotations that could have important implications for how the pain of women who have been sexually assaulted is perceived. We experimentally assessed the influence of labeling in sexual assault and two other crimes (i.e., mugging and identity theft) on perceptions of psychological pain, hardship, and support needed. Interaction effects of crime type and label were observed for hardship, current psychological pain, and sensitivity to psychological pain, indicating that the effects of labels (survivor, victim, person who experienced) on perception vary by crime type. Sexual assault victims were perceived to have experienced more pain and hardship than several other label and crime combinations. Our results underscore the need for more research to better contextualize how these labels operate in affecting perceptions of pain and hardship, and also suggest that policy makers, activists, healthcare providers, and the targets of sexual violence themselves might consider the implications of label choice for ensuring that women who experience sexual assault receive empathetic care.