In a survey conducted in 1999, university researchers surveyed men to determine the extent of "rape-prone" attitudes.  The study showed that about 30% of American men hold what the researchers considered to be rape-prone beliefs. These figures were higher in male-only communities, such as fraternity houses and military dormitories. However, these attitudes were not set in concrete. Given even limited exposure to rape prevention education, 75% of the 30% of men with rape-prone attitudes modified their beliefs, and maintained attitudinal shifts two years after education exposure. The rape-prone beliefs fell into the following categories:

• Lack of Victim Empathy - Sexual assault is one of the most personal, volatile crimes, yet it is the only crime of this nature where the victim is questioned or blamed. The victim's body has been violated, her spirit broken, but men and women buying into rape-prone belief ser are able to disregard this, considering that persons who are raped are somewhat less than fully human. If it were a carjacking, it would be clear to society who was in the wrong. But rape victims are often met with skepticism, and treated with contempt. By devaluing the rape victim, the rapist can justify his action.

• Lack of Understanding the Worth and Value of Others, Particularly those who are "Different" - Sometimes perpetrators of rape have a sense of entitlement, or a belief that they can take what they want because they are male, for example. One past stereotypical role of men was the rule of thumb, which meant that a man should not hit his wife with a stick thicker than his thumb. Other sexual offenders regard children as property; or members of a different race as less valuable. Men and women who are developmentally challenged, mentally or physically handicapped, or imprisoned are highly vulnerable to rape.

• Peer Pressure to Conform to Stereotypes (be a man, not a sissy) - Because people have a need for acceptance and to feel like they fit in, they feel pressure to do what they think everyone else is doing instead of doing what they feel is right or making an individual decision. A child coming through the school system learns quickly that it can be physically dangerous not to be accepted by the "cool crowd." The instinct to conform stays with many of us through adulthood. Women bow to the pressure to be cool, to drink, to be pleasing. Men crack under the pressure to be strong, virile, able to get what they want when they want it.