Characteristics of men who aggress sexually and of men who imagine aggressing: Risk and moderating variables

The authors showed that the extent to which men's personalities were self-centered rather than sensitive to others' needs moderated the connection between risk-factors and sexually aggressive behavior. Men who were at risk for committing aggression but who were also sensitive to others' feelings aggressed less than the corresponding group, who had relatively self-centered personalities. However, both groups showed high levels of imagined sexual aggression. The authors suggest that imagined sexual aggression may reveal information about the presence of underlying risk factors even when actual aggression is inhibited by personality characteristics such as those studied here. The implications for therapeutic interventions of the finding of aggression attenuation are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved) (from the journal abstract)
Author: 
Dean,Karol E.
Malamuth,Neil M.
Notes: 
Accession Number: psp-72-2-449. First Author Affiliation: Dean, Karol E.; U California, Dept of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA, US. Release Date: 19970101. Publication Type: Journal, Peer Reviewed Journal. Language: English. Major Descriptor(s): Aggressive Behavior; Human Males; Personality Traits; Psychosexual Behavior; Sexual Fantasy. Minor Descriptor(s): Risk Assessment. Classification: Behavior Disorders Antisocial Behavior (3230); Personality Traits Processes (3120); Population: Human (10); Male (30); . Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs older) (300); Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs) (320); . Methodology: Empirical Study. References Available: Y
Reprint Status: 
IN FILE
Start Page: 
449
End Page: 
455
Journal/Periodical Name: 
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume: 
72
Issue: 
2
Abstract: 
This study used 323 male participants from an introductory psychology course who filled out a questionnaire regarding sexual aggression and self-portrayal in order to determine risk factor characteristics. The findings show that the extent to which risk factors translate into actual sexual aggression depends on the magnitude to which the man is self-centered versus caring about others' feelings. When a man is at high risk of being sexually aggressive, if he is self-centered, then he is more likely to be sexually aggressive than when he is sensitive to others' feelings. It was also found that the nurturant group actually had greater fantasized sexual aggression than the self-centered group had. The implications of therapeutic intervention are also discussed.
Topic Areas: 
Perpetration; risk
Reference Type: 
JOUR
Reference ID: 
2386
Publication Date: 
1997/02