An Evolutionary-Based Model Integrating Research on the Characteristics of Sexually Coercive Men
Abstract
In ancestral environments in which the human mind evolved, males could achieve reproductive success by engaging in strategies that involved "converging" or "diverging" interests with those of females. Psychological mechanisms evolved designed to increase effectiveness in each of these types of strategy, with early life experiences calibrating relevant mechanisms to prepare the individual for later interactions. Using the conceptual framework, a model of the characteristics of men who use sexually coercive tactics is presented. It integrates many seemingly independent correlates of sexual aggressors within 3 major constellations of characteristics: (1) a general personality orientation to assert one's own interests at the expense of others; (2) a short-term mating orientation likely to create a conflict of interests within females; and (3) a constellation of emotions and attitudes priming coercive tactics for dealing with strategic interference or conflict. While each of these 3 constellations makes a unique contribution to the likelihood that a man will use sexual coercion, it is argued that their confluence is particularly likely to characterize sexual aggressors. A series of interrelated hypotheses derived from this model is described and supporting data are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).