NCJ Number
225872
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal Volume: 36 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2009 Pages: 198-222
Date Published
February 2009
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study investigated whether deviant sexual fantasies promoted corresponding behaviors.
Abstract
Findings revealed that 95 percent of respondents reported experiencing at least one sexually deviant fantasy, and 74 percent reported engaging in at least one sexually deviant behavior; however, only 38 percent of the high-fantasy group reported acting out fantasies. Results provide prevalence rates of nine sexually deviant fantasies and the corresponding behaviors; the link between sexually deviant fantasies and sexually deviant behaviors in nonoffenders is also qualified. Only a subset of those with fantasies also reported carrying out the behavior. Although the link is not inevitable, it is consistent and coherent across a wide range of sexual deviance categories. Only one personality variable, psychopathy, was consistently associated with both fantasies and behavior. Psychopathy also proved to be the key moderator of behavioral consequences; it isolated both the subset of individuals for whom sexually deviant fantasies translated into behavior and the subset of individuals for whom pornography consumption was related to deviant sexual behavior. Data were collected from 88 male undergraduate students at a large western university using a self-report instrument. Tables, figures, notes, and references