Predictors of Naturalistic Sexual Aggression

Abstract

This research integrated within a theoretical and empirical framework varied predictor factors pertaining to males' sexual aggression against women. The selection of predictors was guided by theorizing that sexual aggression is caused by the interaction among multiple factors, including those creating the motivation for the act, those reducing internal and external inhibitions, and those providing the opportunity for the act to occur. The predictor factors assessed were sexual arousal in response to aggression, dominance as a motive for sexual acts, hostility toward women, attitudes accepting of violence against women, psychoticism, and sexual experience. A measure assessing self-reported sexual aggression (primarily among acquaintances) in naturalistic settings served as the dependent measure. The subjects were 155 males. As expected, nearly all the predictor factors significantly related to sexual aggression. In addition, much better prediction of such aggression was achieved by a combination of these factors than by any one individually. It was also found that including interactions among these predictors yielded a regression equation that was more successful in relating to sexual aggression than an equation using an additive combination only. The relevance of these data to the causes and prediction of violence against women is discussed.

Full text

Journal
of
Personality
and
Social
Psychology
1986, Vol.
50, No. 5,
953-962
Copyright
1986
by the
American
Psychological
Association,
Inc.
0022-3514/86/S00.75
Predictors
of
Naturalistic Sexual Aggression
Neil
M.
Malamuth
University
of
California,
Los
Angeles
This
research
integrated
within
a
theoretical
and
empirical
framework
varied
predictor
factors
pertaining
to
males'
sexual
aggression
against
women.
The
selection
of
predictors
was
guided
by
theorizing
that
sexual
aggression
is
caused
by the
interaction
among
multiple
factors,
including
those
creating
the
motivation
for the
act,
those
reducing
internal
and
external
inhibitions,
and
those
providing
the
op-
portunity
for the act to
occur.
The
predictor
factors
assessed
were
sexual
arousal
in
response
to
aggression,
dominance
as a
motive
for
sexual
acts,
hostility
toward
women,
attitudes
accepting
of
violence
against
women,
psychoticism,
and
sexual
experience.
A
measure
assessing
self-reported
sexual
aggression
(primarily
among
acquaintances)
in
naturalistic
settings
served
as the
dependent
measure.
The
subjects were
155
males.
As
expected,
nearly
all the
predictor
factors significantly
related
to
sexual
aggression.
In
addition,
much
better
prediction
of
such
aggression
was
achieved
by a
combination
of
these
factors
than
by any one
individually.
It was
also
found
that
including
interactions
among
these
predictors
yielded
a
regression
equation
that
was
more
successful
in
relating
to
sexual
aggression
than
an
equation
using
an
additive
combination
only.
The
relevance
of
these
data
to the
causes
and
prediction
of
violence
against
women
is
discussed.
Within
the
last
decade,
there
has
been
increasing
research
on
the
causes
of
male sexual aggression against women,
particularly
rape.
As
described
later,
most
of
this research attempted
to
iden-
tify
individual factors
that
may
predict such aggression. More
recently,
however,
there
has
been growing recognition
of the
need
for
multifactorial models.
The
theoretical guidance
for the
present research
was
provided
at
the
general level
by
Bandura's
social learning theory
of
aggres-
sion
(1973,
1978)
and by
various applications
of it to
sexual
aggression (e.g., Earls, 1983; Malamuth,
1983b;
Marshall
&
Bar-
baree,
1984).
Also providing theoretical guidance
was a
recent
model
of the
causes
of
child sexual abuse (Finkelhor,
1984;
Fin-
kelhor
&
Araji,
1983)
and its
extension
by
Russell
(1984)
to
sexual aggression. These theories have several
features
in
com-
mon. Most
important,
they emphasize
that
to
understand
the
causes
of
sexual aggression
it is
essential
to
consider
the
role
of
multiple
factors, such
as
those creating
the
motivation
to
commit
the
act,
those reducing internal
and
external inhibitions that
might
prevent
it
from
being carried out,
and
those providing
the
opportunity
for the act to
occur. Some
of
these multifactorial
models propose additive (e.g., Earls, 1983)
and
others propose
interactive (e.g., Bandura, 1978; Finkelhor, 1984; Malamuth,
1983b)
combinations
of the
causal factors.
The
research reported here compared empirically three alter-
native theoretical models regarding
the
causes
of
sexual aggres-
This
research
was
facilitated
by
grants
from
the
Social
Sciences
and
Humanities
Research
Council
(SSHRC)
of
Canada.
Portions
of
this
article
were
presented
at the
1985
meeting
of the
International
Society
for Re-
search
on
Aggression
in
Parma,
Italy.
The
author
is
particularly
grateful
to L.
Rowell
Huesmann
for
con-
structive
suggestions.
Thanks
are
also
expressed
to
Daniel
Linz,
Steven
Penrod,
and
James
V. P.
Check
for
their
helpful
suggestions.
Correspondence
concerning
this
article
should
be
addressed
to
Neil
M.
Malamuth,
Communication
Studies,
232
Royce
Hall,
University
of
California
at Los
Angeles,
Los
Angeles,
California
90024.
sion:
The
Single
Factor
model suggests
that
sexual aggression
results
from
a
single factor (e.g., hostility).
The
Additive model
posits multiple factors combining
in an
additive manner (Earls,
1983).
The
Interactive model asserts that multiple factors (i.e.,
motivation, disinhibitory
and
opportunity) interact
to
produce
sexual
aggression, particularly
at
high levels. Although
the de-
pendent measure used here primarily assesses sexual aggression
between
acquaintances,
as
noted later,
I
suggest
that
considerable
similarity
may
exist among
the
causes
of
such aggression
and
that committed against
nonacquaintances.
In
studying self-reported naturalistic sexual aggression,
six
predictors were used
in the
present
study.1
Three were intended
to
assess
the
motivation
to
commit sexual aggression. These were
sexual
arousal
in
response
to
aggression,
the
desire
to be
sexually
dominant
or
powerful,
and
hostility toward women.
In
addition,
two
variables were included primarily
to
measure factors
that
may
overcome internal
and
external inhibitions. These consisted
of
attitudes condoning sexual aggression
and of
antisocial
per-
sonality
characteristics. Finally, sexual experience
was
assessed
because
if a
person
did not
engage
in
sexual
acts
generally, then
the
"opportunity"
for
sexual aggression would
not
exist.
As
dis-
cussed later,
an
additional reason
for
including this dimension
relates
to
differences
in the
degree
and
nature
of
sexual experi-
ences
between relatively sexually aggressive
and
nonaggressive
men.
The
following
discussion expands
on the
rationale
for the
selection
of
the
various predictors
and
describes previous research
pertaining
to
each.
Sexual Responsiveness
to
Rape
The
most
widely
studied response designed
to
differentiate
rapists
from
nonrapists
has
been
the
penile tumescence rape
1
The
term
predictor
is
used
here
in the
statistical
sense
and
does
not
necessarily
imply
a
temporal
or
causal
relation
with
the
criterion
(or
dependent)
variable.
953
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