BRIEF REPORT SPOTTING THE SIGNS: FIRST-YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO BYSTANDER-THEMED RAPE PREVENTION POSTERS Jennifer Katz, Rachel Olin, Catherine Herman, and Melinda DuBois SUNY College at Geneseo This research evaluated whether exposure to “Know Your Power” posters promotes willingness to help others at risk, alone or in interaction with social self-identification. At the start of the academic year, posters were hung in two randomly selected residence halls. No posters were hung in a control hall. After 6 weeks, first-year undergraduate students (N = 95) reported their willingness to help others and their perceptions of the posters via an anonymous online survey. More students from the experimental than control halls noticed the posters; there were no other differences between students who did and did not notice the posters. Willingness to help others at risk was elevated among students exposed to posters at least once. This effect was marginally enhanced among students who perceived the posters as depicting familiar people and situations. Overall, results suggest that bystander-themed educational posters help promote community safety by encouraging bystander intervention. C  2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Rape and other forms of sexual assault are common, challenging problems for institu- tions of higher learning. A study commissioned by the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ) found that 19% of women and 6% of men reported experiencing attempted or com- pleted rape since starting college (Krebs, Lindquist, Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2007). Re- searchers estimate that between 20%-25% of women are sexually assaulted during college We gratefully acknowledge Jessica Moore for her comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript and Residence Life staff, including Celia Easton, Neil Brooks, Tiffany Collazo, Heather Macaluso, Michael Miechowski, Ryan Moton, and Caroline Whelan for their assistance within the residence halls. Please address correspondence to: Jennifer Katz, Department of Psychology, SUNY College at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY 14454. E-mail: katz@geneseo.edu JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 41, No. 4, 523–529 (2013) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jcop). C  2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/jcop.21552