Toward a testable developmental model of pedophilia: The development of erotic age preference

Abstract

Retrospective self-reports about childhood curiosity to see persons in the nude were used to compare the development of erotic sex and age preferences among four groups of males; 46 heterosexual pedophiles, 30 homosexual pedophiles, 462 gynephiles (who erotically prefer physically mature females), and 51 androphiles (who erotically prefer physically mature males). The results suggest (a) throughout this erotic developmental process among males, the establishment of erotic sex preference precedes that of erotic age preference, and (b) a greater proportion of pedophiles than of individuals who prefer physically mature partners remembers curiosity in their own childhood to see nude children without remembering such curiosity in regard to adults. This suggests that in a substantial proportion of pedophiles the occurrence of this paraphilia is predetermined at a very early developmental phase. A further set of retrospective self-reports, obtained from a group of 78 gynephilic university students suggests that at least in gynephiles the erotic appeal of children of the preferred sex ceases by about the time of puberty. This may be an indication that there exists a process of active devaluation of the nonpreferred age bracket, culminating at puberty.