Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:26:17.028Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A map of desire: multidimensional scaling of men's sexual interest in male and female children and adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2020

J. Michael Bailey Open the ORCID record for J. Michael Bailey [Opens in a new window] ,
Ray Blanchard Open the ORCID record for Ray Blanchard [Opens in a new window] ,
Kevin J. Hsu Open the ORCID record for Kevin J. Hsu [Opens in a new window]  and
William Revelle Open the ORCID record for William Revelle [Opens in a new window]
J. Michael Bailey*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Ray Blanchard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Kevin J. Hsu
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
William Revelle
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
*
Author for correspondence: J. Michael Bailey, E-mail: jm-bailey@northwestern.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Men sexually interested in children of a specific combination of maturity and sex tend to show some lesser interest in other categories of persons. Patterns of men's sexual interest across erotic targets' categories of maturity and sex have both clinical and basic scientific implications.

Method

We examined the structure of men's sexual interest in adult, pubescent, and prepubescent males and females using multidimensional scaling (MDS) across four datasets, using three large samples and three indicators of sexual interest: phallometric response to erotic stimuli, sexual offense history, and self-reported sexual attraction. The samples were highly enriched for men sexually interested in children and men accused of sexual offenses.

Results

Results supported a two-dimensional MDS solution, with one dimension representing erotic targets' biological sex and the other dimension representing their sexual maturity. The dimension of sexual maturity placed adults and prepubescent children on opposite ends, and pubescent children intermediate. Differences between men's sexual interest in adults and prepubescent children of the same sex were similar in magnitude to the differences between their sexual interest in adult men and women. Sexual interest in adult men was no more associated with sexual interest in boys than sexual interest in adult women was associated with sexual interest in girls.

Conclusions

Erotic targets' sexual maturity and biological sex play important roles in men's preferences, which are predictive of sexual offending. The magnitude of men's preferences for prepubescent children v. adults of their preferred sex is large.

Keywords

Hebephiliamultidimensional scalingpedophiliasexual arousalsexual attractionsexual offendingsexual orientation
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 51 , Issue 15 , November 2021 , pp. 2714 - 2720
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Now at: the Department of Psychological and Social Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Abington, Abington, PA, USA.

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Bailey, J. M., Bernhard, P. A., & Hsu, K. J. (2016a). An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Correlates of sexual offending against children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125, 989–1000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/abn0000213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, J. M., Hsu, K. J., & Bernhard, P. A. (2016b). An Internet study of men sexually attracted to children: Sexual attraction patterns. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125, 976–988. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/abn0000212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, J. M., Vasey, P. L., Diamond, L. M., Breedlove, S. M., Vilain, E., & Epprecht, M. (2016c). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17, 45–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1529100616637616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, S. (2001). Child molestation and the homosexual movement. Regent University Law Review, 14, 267–282.Google Scholar
Blanchard, R. (2013). A dissenting opinion on DSM-5 pedophilic disorder. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 675–678. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0117-x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchard, R., Christensen, B. K., Strong, S. M., Cantor, J. M., Kuban, M. E., Klassen, P., … Blak, T. (2002). Retrospective self-reports of childhood accidents causing unconsciousness in phallometrically diagnosed pedophiles. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 511–526. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1020659331965.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchard, R., Klassen, P. E., Dickey, R., Kuban, M. E., & Blak, T. (2001). Sensitivity and specificity of the phallometric test for pedophilia in nonadmitting sex offenders. Psychological Assessment, 13, 118–126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.13.1.118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchard, R., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., Klassen, P. E., Dickey, R., & Cantor, J. M. (2012). Sexual attraction to others: A comparison of two models of alloerotic responding in men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 13–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-010-9675-3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchard, R., Kuban, M. E., Klassen, P., Dickey, R., Christensen, B. K., Cantor, J. M., & Blak, T. (2003). Self-reported head injuries before and after age 13 in pedophilic and nonpedophilic men referred for clinical assessment. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 32, 573–581. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1026093612434.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchard, R., Lykins, A. D., Wherrett, D., Kuban, M. E., Cantor, J. M., Blak, T., … Klassen, P. E. (2009). Pedophilia, hebephilia, and the DSM-V. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 335–350. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9399-9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cantor, J. M., & McPhail, I. V. (2015). Sensitivity and specificity of the phallometric test for hebephilia. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 12, 1940–1950. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12970.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, T. F., & Cox, M. A. A. (2001). Multidimensional scaling (2nd ed.). Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall/CRC.Google Scholar
Dombert, B., Schmidt, A. F., Banse, R., Briken, P., Hoyer, J., Neutze, J., & Osterheider, M. (2016). How common is men's self-reported sexual interest in prepubescent children? Journal of Sex Research, 53, 214–223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2015.1020108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Family Research Institute. (n.d.). Child molestation and homosexuality. Retrieved from https://www.familyresearchinst.org/2009/02/child-molestation-and-homosexuality-2.Google Scholar
Jaworska, N., & Chupetlovska-Anastasova, A. (2009). A review of multidimensional scaling (MDS) and its utility in various psychological domains. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 5, 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.20982/tqmp.05.1.p001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lykins, A. D., Cantor, J. M., Kuban, M. E., Blak, T., Dickey, R., Klassen, P. E., & Blanchard, R. (2010). Sexual arousal to female children in gynephilic men. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 22, 279–289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1079063210372141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, W. A., & Tanner, J. M. (1969). Variations in pattern of pubertal changes in girls. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 44, 291–303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/adc.44.235.291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, W. A., & Tanner, J. M. (1970). Variations in the pattern of pubertal changes in boys. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 45, 13–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/adc.45.239.13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McPhail, I. V., Olver, M. E., Brouillette-Alarie, S., & Looman, J. (2018). Taxometric analysis of the latent structure of pedophilic interest. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47, 2223–2240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1225-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, A. F., Mokros, A., & Banse, R. (2013). Is pedophilic sexual preference continuous? A taxometric analysis based on direct and indirect measures. Psychological Assessment, 25(4), 1146–1153. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seto, M. C. (2008). Pedophilia and sexual offending against children: Theory, assessment, and intervention. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Seto, M. C., Harris, G. T., Rice, M. E., & Barbaree, H. E. (2004). The screening scale for pedophilic interests predicts recidivism among adult sex offenders with child victims. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 33, 455–466. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:ASEB.0000037426.55935.9c.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seto, M. C., & Lalumière, M. L. (2001). A brief screening scale to identify pedophilic interests among child molesters. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 13, 15–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1009510328588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seto, M. C., Lalumière, M. L., & Blanchard, R. (2000). The discriminative validity of a phallometric test for pedophilic interests among adolescent sex offenders against children. Psychological Assessment, 12, 319–327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.12.3.319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stephens, S., Leroux, E., Skilling, T., Cantor, J. M., & Seto, M. C. (2017). Taxometric analyses of pedophilia utilizing self-report, behavioral, and sexual arousal indicators. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 126(8), 1114–1119. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Bailey et al. supplementary material

Bailey et al. supplementary material 1

Download Bailey et al. supplementary material(File)
File 33.6 KB
Supplementary material: File

Bailey et al. supplementary material

Bailey et al. supplementary material 2

Download Bailey et al. supplementary material(File)
File 13 KB