Sadomasochistic Sexual Fantasies and Psychological Maladjustment in the General Public

Abstract

Although the implications of submission and domination sexual fantasies in the general public remain unclear, evidence continues to emerge of a higher prevalence than that suggested by early research. This study identified respondent subsets who acknowledged recurrent (“over 80% of the time”) fantasies of either “asserting dominance over someone” or “being humiliated or made to suffer” by a sexual partner. These domination ( n = 97, 12.1%) and humiliation ( n = 37, 4.6%) groups were contrasted with comparison ( n = 649) respondents who reported never engaging in either fantasy. Both domination and humiliation fantasy contents were associated with hypersexuality, maladaptive personality traits (ie, antagonistic, disinhibited, and psychoticism), and elevated risk of sexual addiction. Victimization by childhood sexual abuse was higher (relative risk = 2.69, P = .007) among the women in the humiliation group. These results contribute to an equivocal evidentiary base regarding the extent and impact of sadomasochistic sexual fantasizing in the general public. [ Psychiatr Ann . 2020;50(10):457–468.]