Anxious, hostile, and sadistic: Maternal attachment and everyday sadism predict hostile masculine beliefs and male sexual violence

Abstract

This study examined everyday sadism and childhood parental attachment as predictors of male sexual aggression and coercion against women. A nationwide sample of adult men (N=489) completed two common hostile masculinity measures, Rape Myth Acceptance and Hostility towards Women, which were tested as mediators in a path analysis. Physical sadism was expected to have a direct path to sexual violence, and vicarious and verbal sadism were expected to have indirect effects on sexual violence by increasing hostile masculinity. Anxious maternal attachment was also predicted to indirectly increase sexual assault behavior through these same mediators. These hypotheses had mixed support. Hostility towards Women did not directly predict sexual violence; however, it had a strong association with Rape Myth Acceptance, which had a direct path to sexual assault. Physical sadism directly predicted the outcomes, and vicarious sadism and anxious maternal attachment predicted Hostility towards Women. Verbal sadism did not have significant paths in the model. This model accounted for 33% and 27% of sexual aggression and coercion, respectively. A cross-validation procedure was conducted to assure consistency and invariance of the path model.