Abstract
This paper tests three competing explanationsfor male-female differences in sado-masochistic sexualarousal. The male arousal hypothesis posits that becauseof socialization that emphasizes sexual aggression and experimentation (and thus higher levels ofsexual arousal and activity in all areas), men will bemore aroused by both sadism and masochism than women.The female masochism hypothesis argues that because females are socialized to be passive, they willbe more aroused by masochistic (but not sadistic)activities than males. The convergence hypothesis notesthat male female socialization (and differences in most sexual attitudes and behavior) haveconverged in recent years, and hypothesizes that thesame convergence has taken place in arousal caused bysado-masochistic behavior and fantasy. Using a sample comprised of 320 undergraduate students (69%white, 27% African American, 4% other) from a largeurban university in the Southeast, we found no evidencefor the female masochism hypothesis and only weak evidence for the convergence hypothesis. Thestrongest evidence was for the male arousal hypotheses,with males scoring significantly higher than females onseven of the twelve measures of sado-masochistic arousal, and no differently from females on theremaining five.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Arndt, W. B., Jr. (1991). Gender disorders and the paraphilias. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Caplan, P. (1985). The myth of women's masochism. New York: E. P. Dutton.
Chancer, L. (1992). Sado-masochism in everyday life: The dynamics of power and powerlessness. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Clement, U. (1989). Profile analysis as a method of comparing inter-generational differences in sexual behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 18, 229–237.
Donnelly, D., & Straus, M. (1994). The fusion of sex and violence. In M. A. Straus, Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in American families. Boston: Lexington/MacMillan.
Dworkin, A. (1987). Intercourse. New York: Free Press.
Dworkin, A., & MacKinnon, C. (1988). Pornography and civil rights: A new day for women's equality. New York: Organizing Against Pornography.
Finkelhor, D., & Yllo, K. (1985). License to rape. New York: Holt-Rinehart.
Gagnon, J. H. (1990). The implicit and explicit use of scripting perspective in sex research. Annual Review of Sex Research, 1, 1–43.
Gagnon, J. H. Parker, R. G., & Laumann, E. O. (1995). A sociological perspective on sexual action. In J. H. Gagnon & R. G. Parker (Ed.), Conceiving sexuality. New York: Routledge.
Gagnon, J. H., & Simon, W. (1973). Sexual conduct: The social sources of human sexuality. Chicago: Aldine.
Glickauf-Hughes, C., & Wells, M. (1991). Current conceptualizations on masochism: Genesis and object relations. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 45, 53–68.
Heilbrun, A., & Loftus, M. (1986). The role of sadism and peer pressure in the sexual aggression of male college students. Journal of Sex Research, 22, 320–332.
Horney, K. (1939). New ways of psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton.
Hsu, B., Kling, A., Kessler, C., Knapke, K., Diefenbach, P., & Elias, J. (1994). Gender differences in sexual fantasy and behavior in a college population: A ten-year replication. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 20, 103–118.
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., & Martin, C. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders.
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., Martin, C., & Gebhard, P. (1953). Sexual behavior in the human female. Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders.
Lederer, L. (1980). Then and now: An interview with a former pornography model. In Lederer, L. (Ed.), Take back the night: Women on pornography. New York: Bantam Books.
Levine, S., Risen, C., & Althof, A. (1990). Essay on the diagnosis and nature of paraphilia. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 16, 89–102.
Martin, P., & Hummer, R. (1989). Fraternities and rape on campus. Gender and Society 3(4).
McCollum, B., & Lester, D. (1994). Violent sexual fantasies and sexual behavior. Psychological Reports, 75, 742.
Money, J. (1986). Lovemaps. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Money, J., & Lamacz, M. (1987). Vandalized lovemaps. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Person, E., Terestman, N., Myers, W., Goldberg, E., & Salvadori, C. (1989). Gender differences in sexual behaviors and fantasies in a college population. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 15, 187–198.
Reed, D., & Weinberg, M. (1984). Premarital coitus: Developing and established sexual scripts. Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 129–138.
Rubin, L. (1990). Erotic wars. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Steinem, G. (1980). Erotica and pornography: A clear and present difference. In Lederer, L. (Ed.), Take back the night: Women on pornography. New York: Bantam Books.
Strong, B., & DeVault, C. (1994). Human sexuality. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
Symonds, A. (1979). Violence against women: The myth of masochism. Journal of American Psychotherapy, 33, 161–173.
Warshaw, R. (1988). I never called it rape. New York: Harper Collins.
Weinberg, T., & Levi-Kamel, G. W. (1983). S and M: Studies in sado-masochism. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Weinberg, M., Williams, C., & Moser, C. (1984). The social constituents of sado-masochism. Social Problems, 31, 379–389.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Donnelly, D., Fraser, J. Gender Differences in Sado-Masochistic Arousal Among College Students. Sex Roles 39, 391–407 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018871009381
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018871009381