Narcissism and Subjective Arousal in Response to Sexual Aggression: The Mediating Role of Perceived Power

David Andrews,Virgil Zeigler-Hill

doi:10.3390/sexes2020017

Abstract

The present research examined the associations that narcissistic personality features had with subjective arousal in response to sexually aggressive behaviors, as well as whether these associations were mediated by the power that was believed to accompany these behaviors. Participants were 221 community members (115 women, 106 men) who completed a self-report instrument that captured narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism). In addition, participants were asked to rate how powerful they would expect to feel if they actually engaged in an array of sexually aggressive behaviors (e.g., “Tying up a person during sexual intercourse against her/his will”) as well as how sexually aroused they would be by each behavior. A multilevel mediation analysis revealed that both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry were positively associated with subjective arousal in response to sexual aggression and that these associations were mediated by the perceived power that was believed to accompany these sexually aggressive behaviors. These results suggest that perceptions of power may play an important role in the connections that narcissistic personality features have with subjective arousal in response to sexually aggressive behavior for both men and women. This discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the connections between narcissism and sexual aggression in both men and women.

Highlights

Similar patterns emerged for narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry, these associations were somewhat stronger for narcissistic rivalry than they were for narcissistic admiration, which is similar to the results that have emerged for sexual aggression in previous studies [30]
Our results showed that perceived power played an important role in understanding the connections that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had with subjective arousal in response to sexual aggression
The present study examined whether the associations that narcissistic personality features had with subjective arousal in response to sexual aggression were due, at least in part, to the feelings of power that were believed to accompany sexually aggressive behaviors

Summary

Introduction

Narcissism has been found to be associated with a variety of aversive outcomes, including anger [4,5,6], hostility [7], rage [8], and aggression [9,10]. Numerous studies have shown that narcissism is associated with certain forms of sexual aggression [11]. The purpose of the present study was to extend previous research by considering whether narcissistic personality features were associated with subjective arousal in response to sexually aggressive behaviors. We were interested in the possibility that the associations between narcissistic personality features and subjective arousal in response to sexual aggression may be explained, at least in part, by the perceived power that is believed to accompany sexually aggressive behaviors

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion