Archives of Sexual Behavior ‚ Vol. 27 ‚ No. 4‚ 1998
Force in Wom en ’s Sexual Fan tasies Don ald S. Strass berg ‚ Ph .D.‚1 ‚2 an d Lisa K. Lockerd ‚ M.D. 1
Attitu dinal an d experiential correlates of sexual fan tasies involving force or coercion again st the fantasizer were studied in 137 college wom en. Results revealed that (i) virtually every wom an reported engagin g in sexual fantasy on a regular basis ‚ (ii) m ore than half the subjects reported havin g engaged in a force fan tasy‚ (iii) those reportin g force fan tasies scored as less sexually guilty and m ore erotophilic than those not reportin g such fan tasies. Those reporting force fan tasies also h ad m ore sexu al experien ce an d en gaged in m ore fan tasizing of the non force type than the other subjects. A history of exposure to sexual force or coercion was unrelated to the report of force fan tasies. Taken togeth er‚ these fin din gs are offered in suppo rt of the hypoth esis that the occurrence of force fan tasies‚ rather than resultin g from an attem pt to deal with sexual guilt‚ represents on e of a nu m ber of ways in which som e wom en dem on strate a relatively open ‚ unrestricted ‚ an d varied approac h to their sexuality. KEY WORDS: sex fantasies; se x guilt; coe rcion.
INTRODUCTION In recent years‚ the study of se xual fantasie s has be come an important part of the effort to unde rstand human se xual be havior. Rese arch has demonstrate d that sexual fantasizing can be a normal ‚ adaptive ‚ and healthy aspe ct of sexuality for both men and wome n (Chick and Gold ‚ 1987-1988; Davidson ‚ 1985; Davidson and Hoffman ‚ 1986; Hariton and Singe r‚ 1974; Knafo and Jaffe ‚ 1984; Pope et al.‚ 1984) . Appare ntly‚ almost everyone at le ast occasionally e ngage s in sexual fantasizing ‚ either to enhance the ple asure of othe r sexual activitie s (e .g. ‚ intercourse or masturbation) or as a Departme nt of Psychology‚ University of Utah ‚ SBS 502 ‚ Salt Lake City‚ Utah 84112. To whom correspondence should be addre ssed.
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403 0004-0002/98/0800-0403$15.00/0
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1998 Plenum Publishing Corporation
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pleasurable act in and of itse lf (Knafo and Jaffe ‚ 1984; Pe lletie r and Herold ‚ 1988) . Rese arche rs examining se xual fantasie s have found re markable similarity across different sample s of both men and wome n in te rms of the ge ne ral conte nt of the most freque ntly occurring of such fantasie s. The mes such as se x with an imaginary love r‚ re living a previous sexual expe rience ‚ sex with a strange r or famous pe rson‚ or sex in a differe nt or e xotic place ‚ are freque ntly reporte d among those occurring most often by both men and wome n (e.g.‚ Hariton and Singe r‚ 1974; Knafo and Jaffe ‚ 1984; Pe lle tier and Herold ‚ 1988) . Anothe r theme re porte d by men involve s the ir using some type of force or coe rcion in their sexual interaction. A surprising relate d finding has bee n the large percentage of women who report the mes of force or coe rcion ‚ again st them ‚ in the ir sexual fantasie s (e .g.‚ Price and Mille r‚ 1984; Sue ‚ 1979). For example ‚ Hariton and Singe r (1974) found that the fantasy of being “ overpowe re d or forced to surrende r” was the se cond most fre que ntly re porte d se xual fantasy among the women they surveyed; 48% of their subje cts re porte d having this fantasy at le ast some of the time during intercourse. Similarly‚ Knafo and Jaffe (1984) found that the fantasy of being overpowe re d ranke d first among women ’s se xual fantasies during inte rcourse ‚ while Pe lletie r and Herold (1988) re porte d that more than half of the ir fe male subje cts e ngage d in fantasie s of forced sex. O thers have also re porte d this the me among women ’s fantasie s‚ but at lower levels of freque ncy/popularity (Davidson ‚ 1985; Davidson and Hoffman ‚ 1986; Gold and Clegg ‚ 1990) . It has often be en note d that wome n ’s fantasizing about being forced into having se x should not sugge st that they actually wish to be rape d (e .g. ‚ Davidson and Hoffman ‚ 1986) . These “ force ” or “ coe rcion ” fantasie s “ tend to be ove rlaid by romantic image s—in many cases‚ more like seduction than actual force ” (Lance ‚ 1985 ‚ p. 66) . The men in the se fantasie s tend to be de scribe d by the wome n as attractive and othe rwise de sirable ; men the wome n would (in othe r circumstance s) choose for a se xual partne r. The scenario re porte d ofte n de scribe s this de sirable partne r as be ing ove rwhelme d by his attraction to the woman to the e xtent that he is willing to use force or coercion to get her to submit. The se fantasie s do not usually involve (i) the wome n being hurt in any way‚ nor (ii) the man being se en as othe rwise unde sirable as a love r. In sharp contrast ‚ some wome n who have bee n sexually victimize d report un wanted se xual fantasie s (akin to flashbacks associate d with othe r type s of trauma) reminisce nt of the ir original abuse ‚ sometime s including recall of the physical and psychological pain involve d (Maltz ‚ 1995) . Unlike the se ve ry realistic rape fantasie s re porte d by victims ‚ the typical force fantasies of most women studie d are gene rally vie wed as both ple asurable and
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wante d. Pe rhaps most important ‚ in the se de sired sexual fantasie s‚ the fantasize r is in control (Bond and Moshe r ‚ 1986; Davidson and Hoffman ‚ 1986) ; “ [she] orders the reality within it‚ ordains its terms‚ and censors it according to he r nee ds . . . [eve n he r] helple ssne ss is one of the conditions controlle d by the fantasize r” (Haske ll‚ 1976 ‚ p. 84). Why should many wome n ‚ much more so than men (e .g. ‚ Davidson ‚ 1985) ‚ re port fantasizing about being the se xual targe t of some one else ’s force or coe rcion? The most fre quently offered explanation for this robust finding is that wome n fantasize about being force d into sex to avoid or reduce the socie tally induce d guilt that might be e xpe rie nced if the y were to accept full re sponsibility for their sexual de sires and be haviors (Hariton and Singe r‚ 1974; Moreault and Follingstad ‚ 1978; Knafo and Jaffe ‚ 1984) . Consiste nt with this guilt-re duction hypothe sis ‚ More ault and Follingstad (1978) found that women who were high in se x guilt were also more like ly to report fantasy the mes of “ be ing overpowe re d and force d to surrende r” and of “ being dominate d sexually and being helple ss.” Howe ve r‚ Pe lletie r and Herold (1988) ‚ using a diffe re nt measure of guilt ‚ found no relationship betwee n le vels of sex guilt and the occurrence of sexual fantasies in women involving force . Rese arche rs have also examine d the relationship be tween the report of sexual force fantasie s and the erotophilia ¯erotophobia dime nsion (Fisher et al.‚ 1988) ‚ a construct the oretically and empirically relate d to se xual guilt. Rese arch to date sugge sts that‚ contrary to the guilt-re duction hypothe sis ‚ the report of sexual fantasie s by wome n involving force is associate d with a re lative ly positive attitude towards sexuality (i.e.‚ gre ater e rotophilia) (Gold et al.‚ 1991). A re lationship betwee n fe male forced-se x fantasie s and sexual e xpe rience has also bee n inve stigate d ‚ with mixed results. While some studie s have found a positive re lationship betwee n the se variable s (i.e .‚ women who report more sexual e xpe rience also tend to be more like ly to re port force fantasie s) (Gold et al.‚ 1991; Pe lle tie r and Herold ‚ 1988) ‚ at least one study has not (i.e.‚ Gold and Cle gg‚ 1990) . Th e Presen t Stu dy The lack of consiste ncy in the findings to date regarding the personality and be havioral correlate s of women ’s sexual fantasie s involving force prompte d the present inve stigation. Utilizing a multitrait/multime thod approach within a female colle ge population ‚ we e xamine d the re lationship betwee n reports of sexual fantasie s involving force and (i) se xual guilt ‚ (ii)
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sexual expe rience ‚ (iii) e rotophobia-e rotophilia ‚ and (iv) reports of past e xperiences with se xual coercion.
METHOD Su bjects A total of 137 fe male unde rgraduate stude nts participate d in this study. Subje cts were volunte ers‚ re ceiving credit in their introductory psychology classe s for participating in the re search. They were informe d of the sexual nature of the que stionnaire s the y would be aske d to comple te (anonymously) ‚ and that they could withdraw from the study at any time without penalty (none _ did). Subje cts range d in age from 18 ¯40. Me dian age was 19.5 ye ars (x = 21.1 ‚ SD = 3.56) . Subje cts were almost e xclusive ly (i.e.‚ 92% ) Caucasian. Eighty percent were single ‚ 15% were marrie d‚ and 5% were divorce d ‚ widowe d ‚ or se parate d. O f the 137 subje cts‚ 81 (59% ) reporte d be ing in a curre nt se xual relationship. Measures Each subje ct received a packe t of materials that include d a Demographic Data She e t‚ the Sexual Interaction Surve y‚ the Sexual Expe riences Surve y‚ the sex-guilt subscale of the Moshe r Forced-Choice Guilt Inve ntory‚ the Se xual O pinion Surve y‚ a Se xual Fantasy Checklist ‚ and thre e Fantasy Log she ets. The Demographic Data She e t was used to obtain information about the subje ct’s age ‚ marital status‚ and ethnicity. The Sexual Interaction Surve y (SIS) ‚ create d for this study‚ was designe d as a measure of the nature /amount of subje cts’ sexual expe rience ‚ response to that e xpe rience ‚ and le ve l of guilt associate d with the sexual expe rience . Ite ms were adapte d from the Se xual Be havior Inventory (Bentler‚ 1968) . The measure include d 12 heterose xual acts up through “ sexual inte rcourse.” Three measure s were derived from this que stionnaire . The Sexual Expe rie nce measure was de rive d by adding the numbe r of partne rs reporte d for all the be haviors in which the subje cts indicate d the y had engage d ( a = .91) . A measure of Pleasantne ss was derived by summing subjects’ ratings (on a 6-point Likert-type scale) ‚ for each be havior ‚ of how pleasant ¯unple asant they found (or thought the y would find) e ngaging in that activity ( a = .89). Finally ‚ a measure of Se x Guilt was obtaine d by summing subje cts’ ratings (again ‚ on a 6-point Likert-type scale ) of each
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behavior for how guilty they felt‚ or thought the y would fe el‚ about engaging in that behavior ( a = .96). The Sexual Expe rience s Surve y (SES) was a slightly revise d ve rsion of a que stionnaire of the same name created by Koss and O ros (1982). O n this 10-ite m instrume nt ‚ subje cts answere d ye s or no regarding whe ther they had ever expe rience d any of a varie ty of situations involving some type of sexual coercion or aggre ssion against the m. Ite ms include d: “ Had sexual inte rcourse with a man whe n you re ally didn ’t want to be cause you felt pre ssured by his continual argume nts? ” and “ Be en in a situation whe re a man obtaine d sexual acts with you . . . when you didn ’t want to by using threats of physical force? ” The sex guilt subscale of the Moshe r Guilt Inve ntory (MGI) was used as a se cond measure of sex guilt. It consiste d of 50 statements rate d on a 5-point Likert-type scale ‚ with highe r score s indicating more sex guilt. The Se xual O pinion Surve y (SO S; Fisher et al.‚ 1988) is a 21-ite m measure of a responde nt ’s overall attitude towards sexuality (i.e .‚ e rotophobia ¯e rotophilia) . Subje cts rate d agre e ment on a 7-point Like rt-type scale ‚ with highe r scores indicating a more positive attitude towards sexuality (i.e.‚ gre ater e rotophilia) . The Se xual Fantasy Checklist (SFC) consiste d of 16 different sexual fantasie s (adapte d from Hariton and Singe r‚ 1974 and Knafo and Jaffe ‚ 1984) . Subje cts reporte d if the y had eve r had each fantasy and ‚ if so ‚ how many times in a typical month ‚ and how like ly the y would be to act on the fantasy. Two of the fantasie s involve d force d se x or coercion: “ I imagine that I am be ing ove rpowere d or forced to surrende r” and “ I imagine that I am forced to e xpose my body to a se ducer.” Response s to these two items were combine d to create both a Force Report score of 0 (no) or 1 (yes) for each ite m ‚ regarding whe the r the y had eve r had that fantasy‚ and a Force Act score ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (very likely) for e ach of the two ite ms‚ based on their re port of the like lihood of their acting on the force fantasy. As an alte rnative ‚ perhaps more re prese ntative (Hardin and Gold ‚ 1988-1989 ) method for le arning of se xual fantasie s‚ thre e Fantasy Log she ets each asked subje cts to write out a favorite se xual fantasy. The fantasies were evaluate d by two inde pende nt raters for themes of force or coercion (agre ement = 93% ‚ kappa = .74) .
RESULTS Prior to a formal analysis of the data ‚ subje cts’ response s to the (SFC) were collate d‚ and are presented in Table I. For each of the 16 fantasie s
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on the SFC ‚ Table I presents (i) the percentage of subje cts reporting “ e ver having had ” that fantasy‚ (ii) the mean and median numbe r of “ times per month ” that subje cts reporte d having that fantasy‚ and (iii) the pe rcentage of subje cts re porting that they would be “ very like ly” to act out that fantasy. It can be see n that virtually all subje cts reporte d having se xual fantasie s and that a wide range of fantasy themes were common among the wome n. O f particular note are the two the mes involving force ; “ be ing overpowe red and force d to surrende r‚” and “ forced to expose my body to a seducer‚”
Table I. Summary of Sexual Fantasy Checklist Sexual fantasy I imagine that I am having sex in a secluded setting (island‚ cabin ‚ e tc.). I am in a different place like a car ‚ motel ‚ beach ‚ woods‚ etc. Thoughts of an imaginary romantic lover ente r my mind. I relive a previous se xual experience . I imagine I am having sex in a public or semipublic place . I imagine that I am having sex with a famous pe rson. I enjoy pretending that I am doing something wicked or forbidden. I imagine that I am observing myse lf or others having sex. I imagine that I am being overpowered or b forced to surrende r. I imagine myself delighting many me n. I pretend that I am another irre sistibly sexy female. I se e myself as a striptease dancer ‚ hare m girl‚ or other performer. I imagine that I am forced to expose my b body to a seducer. I daydream that I am being made love to by more than one man at a time . My thoughts ce nter around feelings of weakness or he lplessness. I pretend I am a whore or prostitute.
% Re ported
Me an/Median
% Likely to act out
97
6.7/4
75
95
6.8/4
56
88 84
6.1/2 5.6/2
22 41
77
4.3/2
28
63
3.0/1
19
60
3.6/2
8
55
4.0/2
14
55 50
3.0/1 4.2/1
6 7
50
5.3/1
14
47
2.5/1
12
35
2.2/1
6
33
3.4/< 1
7
32
3.2/1
6
18
2.6/< 1
1
For each fantasy‚ this table prese nts the (i) percentage reporting eve r having had this fantasy‚ (ii) the mean/media n number of times per month the fantasy occurs among those reporting the fantasy‚ and (iii) the pe rcentage re porting they would be “ very likely to act out his fantasy.” b Fantasies included as Force Fantasie s. a
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reporte d by 55 and 35% of subje cts‚ re spe ctive ly‚ with 64% reporting at le ast one of the se fantasie s (i.e.‚ these are pe rcentage s of those reporting “ e ver having had ” these fantasie s). In the first analysis ‚ subje cts were divide d into two groups ‚ base d on the ir response s to the two items on the SFC concerning force fantasie s (i.e .‚ Force Report) ‚ de pending on whe the r or not they acknowle dge d e ver having had at least one of the se two fantasie s. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANO V A) was then conducte d to te st the re lationship be tween the se Force Report scores (i.e .‚ yes vs. no) and the two measure s of sexual guilt (i.e.‚ Se x Guilt and the MGI). This MANO VA was statistically significant ‚ F( 2‚ 131) = 3.89 ‚ p < 0.03. Univariate te sts reve ale d significant effe cts on both depe nde nt measure s: Se x Guilt ‚ F(2‚ 131) = 7.48 ‚ p < 0.01; MGI ‚ F(2‚ 131) = 4.31 ‚ p < 0.05. O n both measure s‚ women reporting never havin g had either of the se two force fantasie s (n = 48) scored significantly highe r on se xual guilt than those reporting having had at least one of the se fantasie s (n = 86) (Table II). As an alternative approach to e xamine the relationship be tween force fantasie s and se xual guilt ‚ the spontane ous re ports of fantasie s de scribed by subje cts on the Fantasy Log shee ts were e xamine d. O f the 137 subje cts‚ only 17 ( 12% ) de scribed ‚ in writing ‚ a fantasy that was rated as containing elements of force against the subje ct. Statistical analysis re vealed that the se 17 women were significantly more like ly (than those offering no force fantasies) (i) to re port se x fantasie s involving force on the SFC c 2 (1) = 4.87 ‚ p < 0.05; (ii) to re port significantly le ss sexual guilt on the Sex Guilt meas-
Table II. Difference s Betwee n Those Who Did and Did Not Report Force Fantasies Those reporting force fantasies (n = 82-86) V ariable a c
Sex Guilt b MGI b Expe rience d SOS Pleasantne ss
_
Those re porting no force fantasies (n = 45 ¯ 48)
_
x
SD
x
SD
17.14 73.90 10.32 83.78 5.06
15.59 47.49 2.94 19.61 1.02
25.27 92.54 8.82 67.64 5.33
18.02 53.81 3.64 17.07 0.92
For Se x Guilt and MGI‚ higher score s indicate more se xual guilt. For E xpe rie nce ‚ highe r score s indicate more se xual e xpe rie nce . For SO S‚ higher score s indicate a more erotophilic attitude. For Ple asantness ‚ highe r scores indicate more reporte d pleasantne ss experience d during se x. b p < 0.05. c p < 0.01. d p < 0.001. a
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ure ‚ F(2 ‚ 132) = 6.27 ‚ p < 0.02 ‚ and (iii) demonstrate a nonsignificant trend towards less guilt on the MGI ‚ F(2‚ 132) = 2.93 ‚ p < 0.09 [the univariate te sts on Se x Guilt and the MGI followe d a significant multivariate main effe ct‚ F( 2‚ 132) = 3.15 ‚ p < 0.05) ]. To te st the hypothe sis that the two Force Fantasy groups (Force Report‚ ye s/no) would also differ on othe r re levant measure s‚ they were then compare d via a MANO V A in which the depende nt variable s were sexual Expe rie nce ‚ ratings of Ple asantne ss (of sexual activitie s) ‚ and score s on the SOS (e rotophobia ¯erotophilia) . The multivariate e ffect was significant ‚ F(3 ‚ 125) = 8.04 ‚ p < 0.001 ‚ as were the univariate effe cts for two of the three depende nt measure s; Expe rience ‚ F(2 ‚ 125) = 6.37 ‚ p < 0.02 ‚ and SO S ‚ F(2‚ 125) = 21.39 ‚ p < 0.001. The univariate test on the _ Pleasantne ss measure was nonsignificant ‚ F(2‚ 125) = 2.34 ‚ p > 0.10 ‚ xs = 5.5 and 5.4. Inspe ction of the means associate d with the significant univariate e ffe cts (see Table II) re vealed that ‚ compare d to women re porting no force fantasie s‚ those reporting at le ast one such fantasy on the SFC also reporte d more sexual e xpe rience and a more generally positive attitude (erotophilic) towards their se xuality. How ple asant subje cts found (or thought the y would find) e ngaging in the varie ty of sexual e xpe rie nce s liste d on the SIS was not statistically relate d to reports of force fantasie s. Furthe r‚ for the 81 subje cts ( 59% ) who re porte d be ing in a curre nt se xual re lationship ‚ a t te st reveale d that their leve l of Satisfaction with this relationship was statistically unre lated to the re port of force fantasie s‚ t( 1‚ 79) = 1.19 ‚ p > 0.2. The re lationship betwee n the re port of force fantasie s and the report of nonforce fantasie s was teste d via a MANO VA in which the depe nde nt variable s were the 14 nonforce fantasie s from the SFC and the inde pe nde nt variable was the report of force fantasie s (Force Re port‚ ye s/no) . The analysis yie lded a significant multivariate e ffect‚ F(14 ‚ 121) = 2.4 ‚ p < 0.01. Univa riat e comparison s re ve ale d significan t diffe re nce s for 6 of the 14 fantasie s. In all case s‚ subje cts reporting force fantasie s were also significantly (ps < at least 0.05) m ore likely to re port e ngaging in the nonforce fantasy as well. Next‚ subje cts’ expe rience with various forms of sexual coe rcion or violence ‚ as asse sse d by the SES‚ we re examine d in relation to reports of force fantasie s on the SFC. Reports of subje cts having engage d in a se xual act when the y did not want to include d the following: having intercourse because of thre ats to “ end the relationship ” (10% ); having intercourse because of “ his continual argume nts ” (30% ); the use of physical force to obtain kissing/pe tting (16% ); and those re porting being “ rape d ” (16% ). Chi-square analyse s re ve aled no significant relationship betwee n re ports of force fantasie s and any of the se reports of expe rience with various forms of se xual coercion/rape .
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Finally‚ the impact of two possible confounds was evaluate d. Results revealed that reports of force fantasies were unrelate d to subject age (F < 1) or le ngth of time subje cts reporte d being in their curre nt re lationship ( c 2 < 0.1).
DISCUSSION As a whole ‚ the re se arch lite rature on se xual fantasizing supports the idea that such be havior ‚ by men and women ‚ is ve ry common (e.g.‚ Halderman et al.‚ 1985) . Consiste nt with this ‚ almost e very woman in this study‚ as have those in virtually e very pre vious study of this type (e .g. ‚ Knafo and Jaffe ‚ 1984) reporte d se xual fantasizing on a re gular basis. The conte nt of the se fantasie s was varie d (se e Table I). Furthe r‚ more than half the subjects reporte d having e xpe rienced at le ast one of the two sexual fantasie s involving the ir be ing the targe t of a man ’s force or coercion. Although the commonality of women ’s se xual fantasie s involving force evide nced here is consiste nt with othe r research (e.g.‚ Hariton and Singe r‚ 1974; Knafo and Jaffe ‚ 1984; Pe lle tie r and Herold ‚ 1988; Sue ‚ 1979) ‚ it is also cle ar that the issue of how popular such fantasie s are is comple x. For example ‚ although the force fantasie s we re re porte d by many of the wome n ‚ reports of their freque ncy (i.e .‚ how ofte n ‚ on ave rage ‚ they occurre d per month among those reporting the fantasy) were at or ne ar the bottom (ranke d 12.5 and 16) of the list of 16 fantasie s constituting the SFC. Also ‚ when subje cts were asked to write out three favorite sex fantasie s (as opposed to acknowle dging that a type of fantasy occurs) ‚ only 12% of women offe red one in which the y were the victim of force or coe rcion. Such “ Fantasy Log shee ts” have yielde d similarly low rate s of response for force fantasies in prior rese arch (e .g. ‚ 13% in Gold et al. ‚ 1991) . Finally‚ consiste nt with othe r research (Gold et al.‚ 1991) ve ry few of the wome n (in either a relative or absolute se nse ) reporte d that they would be like ly to act on either of the force fantasie s. The re fore ‚ it appe ars that while many (but far from all) wome n (at le ast colle ge wome n rese arch volunte e rs) occasionally entertain a sexual fantasy that fe ature s them as the targe t of someone e lse ’s force or coercion ‚ in many se nse s this is still not a ve ry “ popular ” fantasy. Neve rthe less‚ the que stion re mains as to why any one ‚ le t alone many individuals ‚ would choose to e nte rtain such a fantasy. The re is some thing intrinsic ally compe lling about the dynamically base d hypothe sis that sugge sts that fantasizing about one self as a victim of se xual force /coe rcion is ‚ through e liminating responsibility ‚ primarily designe d to re duce the anxie ty/guilt about sex that might othe rwise be e xpe -
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rience d by many women in our culture . The e arly re se arch data see med to support this notion (More ault and Follingstad ‚ 1978). Howe ve r‚ the results of the pre sent study argue strongly that ‚ while the re is inde e d a relationship betwee n se xual guilt and re port of force fantasie s‚ the dire ction of this relationship is pre cisely the opposite of that originally sugge sted. That is ‚ we found that women who acknowle dge d having e xpe rienced force fantasie s‚ or who offered such fantasie s on the Sexual Log‚ score d as significantly and substantially less sexually guilty than their counte rparts reporting or offering no force fantasie s. This was true across two ve ry diffe rent indice s of se xual guilt. Nor was there any support for the relate d hypothe sis that wome n who have force fantasie s are attempting to deal with their own re al-life e xpe riences with se xual force/coe rcion. Although many of the wome n in this study had first-hand e xpe rie nce with sexual force/coe rcion ‚ these women were no more like ly to re port force fantasie s than subje cts without such expe rience s. In a relate d study‚ Murne n et al. (1989) found that re ports of force fantasie s were negative ly associate d with coercive sexual expe rience s. In contrast to the guilt-re duction hypothe sis ‚ Pe lle tie r and Herold (1988) sugge sted that reports of force d-se x fantasie s are just one of a number of ways in which a subgroup of wome n evide nce their relative “ openne ss ” to a varie ty of se xual e xpe rie nce s. Similarly ‚ Gold et al. ( 1991) spe culate d that the se women were inte re ste d in a “ wider range of sexual stimuli and se xual activitie s” (p. 15) . The vast majority of the re search data available ‚ including that from the pre se nt inve stigation ‚ is consiste nt with this hypothe sis. For e xample ‚ our subje cts re porting force fantasie s also reporte d more sexual e xpe rie nce (de spite no age difference ) and scored as having a more positive ove rall attitude towards the ir sexuality (i.e .‚ erotophilic) than their counte rparts who re porte d no such fantasie s. The se re lationships have be en reporte d previously (Gold et al.‚ 1991; Pelletier and Herold ‚ 1988). Those subje cts re porting force fantasie s also re porte d m ore non force fantasies. In pre vious re se arch ‚ reporte rs of force fantasie s have also be en found to more ofte n report having read Playboy magazine and having se en an X-rated movie (Gold et al.‚ 1991) . They have even scored as more conte nt in their marriage s (Hariton and Singe r‚ 1974). Its important to acknowle dge a limitation to this and almost all othe r studie s concerning wome n ’s sexual fantasie s: The reliance on colle ge students as subje cts. Added to the constraints on ge ne ralizability of this is the eve r-present re liance on volunte ers. There is good reason to be lie ve that volunte ers for sex re se arch ‚ particularly women volunte e rs‚ are more sexually expe rience d and have a more positive attitude toward sexuality than their nonvolunte e r counte rparts (Strassbe rg and Lowe ‚ 1995) . What re-
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mains unknown is the implication of these subje ct biase s for the relationships be ing inve stigate d. We must also acknowle dge that all of the se studie s re ly e xclusive ly on se lf-re ports; we know no more nor le ss than the se wome n are willing to te ll us. The spe cific implications of this limit are also unknown. Despite these me thodological limits ‚ two decades of re search on sexual fantasie s has consiste ntly de monstrate d that the y are a common and natural aspe ct of normal se xuality. The y are unique source s of se xual arousal ‚ available for the enhance ment of dyadic sexual interactions and se xual selfstimulation ‚ or just to provide a ple asant distraction. Research has left us much le ss surprise d about how ofte n people fantasize and the wide varie ty of targe ts that e xist for those fantasie s‚ including for many women the occasional se xual fantasy in which the y are the “ targe t” of someone ’s force or coe rcion. We have also learne d ‚ however‚ that the se force fantasie s are qualitative ly diffe re nt from image s of true assault (Bond and Moshe r‚ 1986) and in no way sugge st that women voluntarily fantasize about truly be ing rape d. The re sults of the pre se nt study and those of some pre vious inve stigations strongly sugge st that for wome n (at le ast female colle ge stude nts) the se force fantasie s do not appe ar to be the product of strong sex guilt ‚ a negative attitude towards sexuality‚ or more than ave rage real-life e xpe rience with sexual force or coercion. Rathe r‚ the data sugge st that it is the le ast sexually guilty ‚ re lative ly erotophilic women who are ope n to the least restrictive ‚ widest varie ty of sexual e xpe rie nce s‚ including the widest varie ty of se xual fantasie s. This include s‚ but is in no way limite d to ‚ fantasie s involving some force or coercion towards them on the part of a de sire d partner. The se are clearly not the most favore d sexual fantasie s‚ and those who e nte rtain the m te nd to do so re lative ly infre que ntly. The ir occurre nce see ms to be just one more expre ssion of a generally ope n ‚ positive ‚ unre strictive ‚ and re lative ly guilt-fre e e xpre ssion of one ’s se xuality.
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