Andrea Mariani
Project Update: Development and Validation of the Himpathy Scale: A Tool for Identification of Bias in Campus Sexual Assault Cases


​​The last few months were fruitful for our research. We collected data from approximately 1,200 participants and completed the analyses required for our scale validation. Our results show that the himpathy scale has good internal and external validity. In other words, the scale is effective at assessing himpathy, rather than a related construct (such as sexist beliefs, for example). We are in the process of running the last analysis, which will give us information about the predictive power of our scale. Specifically, we are trying to understand whether a higher score on the himpathy scale predicts how one views allegations of sexual assault.

The followings are the questions that will be answered by such analysis:

• Does a higher score on the himpathy scale predict more victim blaming?
• Does a higher score on the himpathy scale predict less punishment for the perpetrator?
• Importantly, are these phenomena dependent on the gender of both the perpetrator and victim?
• Does the himpathy scale do a better job at predicting the outcomes above compared to​ other related scales?

In addition to this last analysis, we have started to write the first of two papers that will describe our study. This first paper focuses on the theory of himpathy and the evidence of the construct in the extant literature, and it highlights the need for a measurement tool. Our second paper will be focused on the actual study.
​
My plans for the upcoming year include applying for a conference where to present our results, finishing to write our theoretical paper and submitting it for publication.

Kamilla Bonnesen
​Project Update: Understanding and Combating Cyber-Sexual Violence


​
We are thrilled to share the exciting progress we’ve made over the summer with our research project, and we are deeply grateful for the unwavering support of Peace Outside Campus and our dedicated participants.
 
Over the summer, our team successfully completed the qualitative analysis phase of our research. We had the privilege of presenting our findings at the International Society for Research on Aggression Biennial Conference, where we were met with a full conference room and received invaluable feedback from research peers and experts in the field of online sexual aggression. It was incredibly validating to hear from our qualitative participants, who expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to have their experiences represented and acknowledged as harmful behavior through our scale. Their positive responses reaffirmed the importance of our work and motivated us even further.
 
As we move into the fall semester, we are eagerly preparing to collect our quantitative data and embark on the second round of analyses. We are also excited to announce our collaboration with Rankin Climate, a renowned company specializing in sexual misconduct campus climate surveys. This partnership will allow us to disseminate our scale across the campus community this fall, ensuring comprehensive and representative data collection.
 
In addition, we are honored to have Dr. Katherine Masyn join our team for the data analysis phase. Dr. Masyn’s expertise will enable us to utilize the most advanced modeling tools currently available, greatly enhancing the depth and accuracy of our research.
 
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Peace Outside Campus for making all of this possible. Your support has been instrumental in advancing this important work. We are also profoundly grateful to our participants, whose insights and feedback have been both inspiring and essential to the development of our research.
 
We look forward to sharing more updates as we continue to progress, and we are enthusiastic about the impact this work will have on improving campus climates.
 
Thank you once again for your continued support!
 
Warm regards, 
Kamilla Bonnesen