(086) The Capacity to Form Stable Intimate Relationships in People with Paraphilic Interests

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The yearning for intimate connection with another human being lies at the core of the human experience (Mashek & Aron, 2004). Thus, the ability to form stable and close bonds serves as a crucial indicator of psychological well-being (Burman & Margolin, 1992). However, for some individuals with problematic sexual interests, which may lead to sexually offensive behaviors (Chan, 2020, 2021), their capacity to form such connections may be compromised (Marshal, 1993; Ward et al., 1995). In particular, sex offenders diagnosed with paraphilic disorders often experience challenges with intimacy (Stefanska et al., 2022). Objective This study aimed to investigate emotional closeness, exclusivity, and co-dependency as components of intimacy within the general population, including individuals with sexually aggressive, minors-oriented, and combined paraphilic interests. Methods The study involved a sample of 100 men randomly selected from four groups: control men without any paraphilic interests (n = 100), men with minors-oriented interests (n = 17), men interested in sexual violence (n = 27), and a combined group of men with both sexual violence and minors-oriented interests (n = 15). We collected questionnaire data as part of an online representative survey (n = 800 men) conducted in the Czech Republic, focusing on topics like love, romance, sexual relationships, and pubertal development. Specific survey items related to emotional closeness, sexual non-exclusivity/promiscuity, and co-dependency underwent confirmatory analysis to eliminate redundancy and enhance explained variance. We defined the constructs of interest based on a literature search on sexual intimacy. Subsequently, we compared the groups on these constructs using a 1-way ANOVA with four levels of grouping variables (controls, violence, minors, combined), followed by post hoc Tukey multiple comparisons tests. Results Statistical tests revealed significant group differences in emotional closeness (F(3,150) = 6.31, p = 0.0005). Post hoc comparisons indicated that the aggression group (Δ = 1.132, p = 0.0003) and the combined group (Δ = 1.117, p = 0.0254) reported significantly lower levels of perceived emotional closeness in their sexual relationships compared to the control group. However, there were no other significant group differences found. Regarding measures of sexual non-exclusivity/promiscuity, ANOVA did not show significant differences (F(3,147) = 2.37, p = 0.073, not significant). Yet, post hoc Tukey comparisons revealed that the combined group exhibited significantly higher promiscuity compared to the control group (Δ = -1.033, p = 0.039). There were no statistically significant differences between groups in the co-dependency variable. Conclusions Our findings suggest that individuals with an interest in sexual violence, and especially those with a combined interest in sexual violence and minors, perceive significantly lower levels of emotional closeness in their sexual relationships compared to individuals without any paraphilic interests. This indicates that they may struggle to feel connected and loved in their relationships. This study was funded by the grant nr. 21-31490S of the Czech Science Foundation. Disclosure No.