Sex Differences in Homicidal Fantasies among Finnish University Students

Abstract

Homicidal behavior is sex-linked. But research comparing male and female homicidal fantasies is sparse even though there is a potential link between fantasies and behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency and contents of homicidal fantasies (targets, triggers, instruments, and emotional reactions) and their relation to substance abuse among 617 Finnish university students (mean age 24.2 years) contingent on gender. Sixty seven percent (n = 413) of respondents reported that they had experienced generally non-substance abuse-dependent homicidal fantasies during their lifetime. Males reported homicidal fantasies more frequently than females. Male fantasies involved the use of a weapon or tool and their fantasies frequently targeted a stranger, an acquaintance, or a public figure whereas female fantasies targeted intimate relationships such as family members or partners. Females reacted with negative emotions to their own homicidal fantasies but males lacked emotional response. Results suggest that homicidal fantasies are sexlinked.

Development and Validation of a Brief Measure of Violent Thoughts: The Violent Ideations Scale (VIS)

“…Confirming (effective) sex invariance in the measure was an important step in its validation because sex differences in VIs represent a potentially important substantive issues: males vastly outnumber females as perpetrators of violence; however, our and previous studies would suggest that the homicidal/violent ideation differences are a long way from proportional to the perpetration differences (e.g. Auvinen-Lintunen et al, 2015;Kenrick & Sheets, 1993). For example, while males are responsible for approximately 80% of all homicides, they barely differed from females on VIS scores in the current study.…”

“…For example, it likely that the predictive power of the VIS depends on a range of other situational and person factors. Given that VIs appear to be extremely common (Auvinen-Lintunen et al, 2015;Kenrick & Sheets, 1993;Bruns & Disorbio, 2000;Crabb, 2000;Grisso et al, 2000;Nagtegaal et al, 2006;Watt et al, 2013), identifying the factors that differentiate between PUBLISHED AS: Murray, A. L., Eisner, M., Ribeaud, D. Development and validation of a brief measure of violent thoughts: The Violent Ideations Scale. Assessment.…”

“…If the model developed in the calibration sample could be generalized to the validation sample, we recombined these samples for further analysis. Given the past evidence that VIs have a different prevalence and pattern in males versus females (e.g., Auvinen-Lintunen, Häkkänen-Nyholm, Ilonen, & Tikkanen, 2015) and the importance of sex differences in VIs in theoretical perspectives on their evolution (e.g., Duntley & Buss, 2011), we evaluated whether measurement invariance by sex held for the scale. We did this using a CFA approach in which increasingly constrained factor models were tested against one another.…”

Situating violent ideations within the landscape of mental health: Associations between violent ideations and dimensions of mental health

“…In one of the first studies to attempt to quantify this, the percentages of individuals in a student sample who experienced at least one homicidal ideation in their life so far were 79% for men and 53% of women (Kenrick and Sheets, 1993). Another, more recent study in a similarly ascertained sample reported analogous figures of 80.5% and 64.7% for men and women (Auvinen-Lintunen et al, 2015). Thus a key future direction will be to determine whether and at what points the frequency, severity or intensity of violent ideations becomes problematic.…”

“…Huesmann, 1988); can trigger negative emotional responses (e.g. Auvinen-Lintunen et al, 2015); and could undermine empathy (e.g. Anderson et al, 2010).…”