Sexual Fantasies and Harmful Sexual Interests: Exploring Differences in Sexual Memory Intensity and Sexual Fantasy Characteristics

• Author: Andrew Allen,Prudence Millear,Nadine McKillop,Mary Katsikitis
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X221086580
• Published date: 01 June 2023
• Date: 01 June 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X221086580

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2023, Vol. 67(8) 835 –860

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X221086580

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Article

Sexual Fantasies and Harmful

Sexual Interests: Exploring

Differences in Sexual Memory

Intensity and Sexual Fantasy

Characteristics

Andrew Allen1, Prudence Millear1, Nadine McKillop1,

and Mary Katsikitis2

Abstract

The perpetration of harmful sexual behavior is a global concern, with deviant

sexual fantasies identified as a prominent etiological risk factor. However, the

concepts of state sexual fantasy characteristics (e.g., vividness and emotionality)

and associated trait sexual memory intensity have received minimal investigation

concerning harmful sexual interests, formulating the impetus for this research.

Two online surveys were conducted in community populations. Study 1 (N = 414)

aimed to validate the psychometric properties of a trait sexual memory intensity

scale (SMIS) through principal components analysis, confirmatory factor analysis,

and evaluation of concurrent validity. Study 2 (N = 820) endeavored to explore

associations between state sexual fantasy characteristics and cognitive-behavior

variables (e.g., frequency of masturbation to a reported fantasy), and evaluate

differences in fantasy characteristics and SMIS scores between participants with

and without harmful sexual interests. Collectively, results supported the factor

structure, concurrent validity, and internal consistency of the SMIS, while revealing

significant associations between the SMIS, sexual fantasy characteristics, and several

variables. Significant differences in sexual fantasy characteristics and SMIS scores

were evident but variable among harmful sexual interests. Findings encourage the

consideration and research of interventions focused on impairing mental imagery

and memory in the management of harmful sexual interests.

1University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia

2Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Andrew Allen, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, 90 Sippy

Downs Drive, Sippy Downs, QLD 4556, Australia.

Email: aallen2@usc.edu.au

1086580IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X221086580International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyAllen et al.

research-article2022

836 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 67(8)

Keywords

sexual violence, sexual fantasies, sexual interest, sexual memory

Introduction

Sexual activity is diverse and ubiquitous, translating to a common source of informa-

tion processing precipitated by numerous implicit (e.g., cognitions, emotions, and

arousal) and explicit (e.g., socializing, intimacy, and pornography use) antecedents. As

a basis for initiating or maintaining sexual arousal, the implication of cognitive pro-

cesses in sexual activity is fundamental for understanding human sexuality, sexual

interests, behavior, and psychosexual disorders (Bartels & Beech, 2017; Spiering

et al., 2004). Such understanding is recognized as an imperative for interventions

regarding harmful (or deviant) sexual behavior, including sexual violence (Bartels &

Beech, 2017; Tharp et al., 2013). Sexual violence (SV) is recognized as a global public

health concern that occurs across all ages, socioeconomic clusters, demographic

groups, and interpersonal relationships (e.g., partner, familial, and non-partner) with

varying levels of vulnerability (Garcia-Moreno et al., 2013; World Health Organisation,

2012). Broadly, SV refers to sexual acts perpetrated against adults and children where

consent is not obtained or freely given, refused, or unable to be provided (Basile et al.,

2014). Thus, SV can be conceptualized on a continuum (Basile et al., 2014; Knight

et al., 2013), encompassing sexual coercion (i.e., achieving sexual activity via manipu-

lative tactics) and rape (i.e., forced sexual activity without consent; Koss et al., 1987).

Sexual Fantasies

The role of sexual fantasies in the etiology of SV perpetration has been theorized since

Abel and Blanchard (1974) outlined their significance in the treatment of sexual devia-

tion. Importantly, sexual fantasies can represent a normative aspect of imagination and

memory, characterized by mental imagery that is unrestricted and unrestrained in con-

tent (Leitenberg & Henning, 1995; Rokach, 1990). However, sexual fantasies may be

considered deviant when they involve the infliction of harm, non-consensual behav-

iors, or behaviors that exceed societal norms (Prentky et al., 1989), aligning with the

pathology of sexual fantasies accompanying paraphilic disorders in the Diagnostic

and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric

Association [APA], 2013). Through conditioning and social learning, sexual fantasies

are thought to be instrumental in the acquisition and maintenance of deviant sexual

interests (Laws & Marshall, 1990; McGuire et al., 1965), and research suggests that

sexual interests typically correspond with sexual fantasies (Noorishad et al., 2019).

Considering that deviant sexual interests are a significant risk factor in sexual offend-

ing (Seto, 2019; Tharp et al., 2013; Thornton, 2002) and one of the strongest predictors

of sexual recidivism (Hanson & Bussière, 1998; Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005),

interventions that target sexual fantasies as part of preventing or managing SV perpe-

tration may have clinical value.