Title

The acceptance of modern rape myths surrounding sexual aggression can often be easily identified simply through the endorsement and day to day use of such, however when it appears that the influence of such acceptance is apparent in a court of law the ability to ensure these beliefs don’t implicate a real criminal trial becomes an issue. Subsequently potential vetting procedures that could help to reduce such bias may become a necessity for members of the jury. This research aimed to investigate the potential relationship between demographic information (age, gender and ethnicity) and the acceptance of modern rape myths whilst also examining the level of influence the six subscales of the Pre-Trial Juror Attitudes Questionnaire (PJAQ) - racial bias, social justice, innate criminality, cynicism towards the defence, system confidence and conviction proneness - may have. Data was collected from a large cross-sectional sample (N = 266) of males and females. Results suggested that gender, racial bias, cynicism towards the defence and social justice were all significant indicators of being accepting of modern rape myths. Practical implications and the direction of future research is discussed.