Relationship Between Sexual Violence and Positive and Negative Cognitions of Sexual Dominance

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the extent to which men have a greater preference for cognitions of sexual dominance than do women, as has often been assumed. We also studied the link between sexual violence and these types of cognitions. Participants were 292 heterosexual undergraduate students who completed a 56-item checklist that assessed positive and negative sexual cognitions along with measures of use of sexual coercion, experiences of child sexual abuse, and experiences of adult sexual victimization. Two 6-item sexual dominance subscales were developed from the checklist to determine how often respondents had experienced the sexual dominance items as positive or as negative. Compared to the women, the men reported a significantly greater frequency of negative cognitions of sexual dominance but a lower frequency of positive cognitions of sexual dominance. Both men and women who had used sexual coercion reported more positive sexual dominance cognitions than did participants who had not used sexual coercion. Sexual violence was not uniquely associated with negative sexual dominance cognitions when the frequency of positive sexual dominance cognitions was controlled. Implications for the link between traditional sexual script and preferences for sexual dominance cognitions are discussed.

Sexual victimisation, sexual cognitions, desire and excitation/inhibition in community Spanish male and female sexual aggressors

“…As previously shown in non-criminal samples of men, dominance over women is a characteristic of males who perpetrate sexual coercion (Gold & Clegg, 1990;Koss & Dinero, 1988;Schneider, Pryor, & Fitzgerald, 2010). Moreover, in undergraduate students, research on sexual cognitions has revealed that men who have perpetrated aggression report more frequent sexual cognitions of dominance as positive (Renaud & Byers, 2005). Although women usually report fewer sexual cognitions of dominance than men (Renaud & Byers, 2001), in our study, the group of female sexual aggressors reported more frequent dominance cognitions than non-aggressors.…”

“…Therefore, in men, our findings are in line with previous community-based studies that have shown that the arousal pattern of sexually aggressive men is different from that of non-aggressive men (see Peterson et al, 2010;Prentky & Knight, 1991). In addition, feelings of power and control, expressed through cognitions of sexual dominance, might be more relevant to explain aggressive sexual behaviour in men, as highlighted by previous research in which male sexual offenders and rape-prone community males reported a higher frequency of sexual thoughts of dominance and coercion, usually experienced as positive (e.g., Bartels & Gannon, 2009;Gold & Clegg, 1990;Proulx, Blais, & Beauregard, 2006;Renaud & Byers, 2005;Yates, Hucker, & Kingston, 2008;Zurbriggen & Yost, 2004). Our findings are also consistent with the confluence model (Malamuth, 2003), one of the most comprehensive explanatory models of male sexual aggression, which includes gratification from dominating women as a predictor of sexual aggression (within the "hostile masculinity" factor).…”

“…In short, PSCs are characterised by positive affect, while NSCs are characterised by negative affect. In a series of studies conducted with undergraduate students, Renaud and Byers (2005) found that, in men, PSCs of sexual dominance are associated with coercive sexual behaviours, while NSCs of sexual dominance are not associated with any of these behaviours. However, the authors did not address the relationship between sexual cognitions and sexual aggression in women.…”

Positive and Negative Cognitions of Sexual Submission: Relationship to Sexual Violence

“…The difference between our male and female participants' experiences of sexual abuse in childhood (11% vs. 17%) failed to reach statistical significance, although these percentages are similar to those reported by Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, and Michaels (1994) (12% vs. 17%) in their probability sample. The results also add to a growing body of research delineating important differences between positive and negative sexual cognitions Little & Byers, 2000;Renaud & Byers, 1999, 2001, 2005. It is essential that researchers who examine links between preferences for specific sexual cognitions and coercive sexual behavior or experiences operationally define these cognitions as positive and acceptable in order to avoid also capturing negatively experienced cognitions.…”

Understanding the sexual fantasies of sex offenders and their correlates

“…Since sexual fantasies are regarded as internally generated stimuli that produce results similar to external stimuli (Gress & Laws, 2009), it can be argued that they too are appraised for their emotional meaning. Findings from recent studies provide support for this idea Renaud & Byers, 2005). For example, Renaud and Byers found that in a sample of 144 college males, sexual fantasies about dominance were more often experienced as negative, rather than positive.…”