Written by Ellen Tansony-Luedke and the Research Committee.
Sexual promiscuity is a well-documented trait of psychopathic individuals; however, little is known about the sexual fantasies of those high in psychopathic traits. From an evolutionary perspective, some have argued that the short-term and uncommitted sexual behaviours associated with psychopathy provide these individuals with reproductive advantages (Jonason, Webster, Schmitt, Li, & Crysel, 2012). Based on this argument, Visser, DeBow, Pozzebon, Bogaert, and Book (2015) proposed that the sexual fantasies of psychopathic individuals should reflect this evolutionary predisposition, with those higher in psychopathic traits being more likely to fantasize about uncommitted sexual relationships, as opposed to only participating in sexual relationships due to other factors. Visser and colleagues (2015) sought to examine the relationship between psychopathic traits, sexual fantasies, and sexual behaviour.
In study 1, 96 men and 99 women at a Canadian university provided descriptions of a fantasy that they found sexually arousing. They also reported the frequency with which they fantasize and the frequency of their pornography use in order to enhance their sexual experiences. Psychopathic traits were measured using the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale III (SRP-III; Paulhus, Neumann, & Hare, 2016). The participants’ descriptions of sexual fantasies were coded independently by two raters, who coded responses based on how applicable they were to different sexual themes: Romance, Number of Sexual Partners, Anonymity, Commitment, Dominance, Submission, and Adventure. These two raters had high agreement with regard to which theme each sexual fantasy description fit into. Overall, the results indicated that those higher in psychopathic traits were more likely to report a higher frequency of fantasizing and pornography use, and for the theme of their fantasies to involve multiple partners and anonymity. Those higher in psychopathic traits were also less likely to fantasize about sexual experiences involving romance or commitment. There were no significant relationships between psychopathic traits and dominance, submission, or adventure (i.e., sexual encounters in a public place, getting caught, etc.) themes within the sexual fantasies reported. Similarly, after controlling for participants’ gender, Visser and colleagues (2015) found that psychopathic traits positively predicted reports of fantasies involving anonymity, and negatively predicted fantasies involving romance and commitment.
In study 2, Visser and colleagues (2015) sought to determine whether sexual fantasies would be related to real-life sexual behaviour, and the role that psychopathic traits may play in this relationship. Similar to study 1, 115 men and 240 women at a Canadian university provided the frequency with which they fantasize about sexual themes, the frequency with which they use pornography, and completed the SRP-III to measure psychopathic traits. Participants also filled out a questionnaire of sexual fantasy and behaviour, where they rated each item in terms of how often they fantasize about that particular theme, and how often they engage in that theme in real-life sexual encounters. The items on the questionnaire provided information for the following sexual themes: unrestricted/emotionless sex (e.g., sexual relations with a stranger, sexual relations with more than one partner at once, etc.), romance (e.g., feeling a romantic/intimate connection during sexual relations, passionate kissing, etc.), submission (e.g., being overpowered, etc.), dominance (e.g., exerting control over a sexual partner, etc.), adventure (e.g., engaging in sexual activity in public), and deviance (e.g., being tied up or tying up a partner, “peeping”, etc.). The results indicated that self-reported psychopathic traits positively predicted real-life sexual behaviours for all sexual themes, with the exception of the romance theme. Similarly, psychopathic traits positively predicted fantasies related to all sexual themes, with the exception of the romance theme. Visser and colleagues (2015) also found that, at high levels of psychopathic traits, fantasizing about unrestricted/emotionless sex predicted engagement in this type of sex in real life. The same relationship was not found at lower levels of psychopathic traits. Similarly, for people reporting high levels of psychopathic traits, fantasizing about deviant sexual behaviour predicted real-life deviant sexual behaviour, but the same was not true at low levels of psychopathic traits.
The results of these two studies provide further information regarding sexual fantasies and real-life sexual behaviour at differing levels of psychopathic traits. The results of these studies support the notion that individuals higher in psychopathic traits are not only more likely to fantasize about uncommitted, unromantic, and deviant sex, but that they are also more likely to engage in these types of sexual behaviours, even after controlling for participants’ gender. Visser and colleagues (2015) note that more research is needed in order to further understand these relationships, suggesting that future studies could explore these relationships across the lifespan, across cultures, and using different methodologies.
Reference: Visser, B. A., DeBow, V., Pozzebon, J. A., Bogaert, A. F., & Book, A. (2015). Psychopathic sexuality: The thin line between fantasy and reality. Journal of Personality, 83(4), 376–388. doi:10.1111/jopy.12110
Additional Articles Referenced:
Jonason, P. K., Webster, G. D., Schmitt, D. P., Li, N. P., & Crysel, L. (2012). The antihero in popular culture: Life history theory and the dark triad personality traits. Review of General Psychology, 16, 192–199.
Paulhus, D. L., Neumann, C. S., & Hare, R. D. (2016). Manual for the Self-Report Psychopathy scale. Toronto, ON: Multi-Health Systems.
