Sexually violent women: The PID-5, everyday sadism, and adversarial sexual attitudes predict female sexual aggression and coercion against male victims

- Investigates female sexual violence (SV) against male victims in 2 samples.
- 10% of women (13% national, 6% university) reported SV perpetration.
- Everyday sadism, antagonism, & psychoticism predicted adversarial sexual attitudes.
- Adversarial sexual attitudes (rape myth acceptance, sexual dominance) predicted SV.

Sexual violence research tends to focus on male aggressors and coercers, but females also commit sexual assault. This research tested whether female sexual violence perpetrated against men was predicted by maladaptive personality traits and adversarial sexual attitudes in a university (n = 439) and national (n = 592) sample. Overall, 10% of women reported sexual violence perpetration, but the national sample rates (13%) were more than twice as high as student rates (6%). This pattern was mirrored in all forms of sexual violence, and national women reported completed rape four times more often than did students. The rate spike in the older, more diverse population may be due to limited prevention efforts, and it emphasizes the importance of collecting data in multiple populations.A structural equation model predicting sexual violence was also constructed with the university sample. Maladaptive personality traits predicted adversarial sexual attitudes. Adversarial sexual attitudes mediated the relationship between the personality traits and sexual violence. The model was replicated in the national sample. The profile from this model is that of a hostile, eccentric, and grandiose woman prone to abnormal beliefs. These women may enjoy controlling men, and they appear to view sex as a competition rather than an expression of affection.

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