Showing papers by "Neil M. Malamuth published in 1986"
TL;DR: In this article, the selection of predictors was guided by theorizing that sexual aggression is caused by the interaction among multiple factors, including those creating the motivation for the act, those reducing internal and external inhibitions, and those providing the opportunity for an act to occur.
Abstract: This research integrated within a theoretical and empirical framework varied predictor factors pertaining to males' sexual aggression against women. The selection of predictors was guided by theorizing that sexual aggression is caused by the interaction among multiple factors, including those creating the motivation for the act, those reducing internal and external inhibitions, and those providing the opportunity for the act to occur. The predictor factors assessed were sexual arousal in response to aggression, dominance as a motive for sexual acts, hostility toward women, attitudes accepting of violence against women, psychoticism, and sexual experience. A measure assessing self-reported sexual aggression (primarily among acquaintances) in naturalistic settings served as the dependent measure. The subjects were 155 males. As expected, nearly all the predictor factors significantly related to sexual aggression. In addition, much better prediction of such aggression was achieved by a combination of these factors than by any one individually. It was also found that including interactions among these predictors yielded a regression equation that was more successful in relating to sexual aggression than an equation using an additive combination only. The relevance of these data to the causes and prediction of violence against women is discussed.
396 citations
262 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model hypothesizing indirect effects of media sexual violence on aggression against women. And they reveal links between such patterns and various forms of antisocial behavior in the laboratory and in naturalistic settings.
Abstract: We present a model hypothesizing indirect effects of media sexual violence on aggression against women. It suggests that certain cultural factors (including mass media) and individual variables interact to affect some people's thought patterns and other responses that may lead to antisocial behavior, including aggression. Two streams of current research are relevant to the model. The first shows connections between exposure to sexually violent media and the development of thought patterns that support violence against women. The second reveals links between such patterns and various forms of antisocial behavior in the laboratory and in naturalistic settings. Suggestions for further research are discussed.
145 citations
TL;DR: Differences on ideological factors, including acceptance of violence against and dominance over women, and differences in acceptance of nonsexual aggression and in subjects' beliefs that they might actually use force against women are found.
Abstract: In two experiments we assessed the impact of aggression on nonrapists' sexual arousal. In the first, both male subjects (n = 37) and female subjects (n = 43) reported more sexual arousal in response to nonaggressive than to aggressive depictions when the portrayals were sexually explicit, but the opposite occurred when the portrayals were nonsexual. Only male subjects (N = 359) participated in the second experiment. On the basis of their self-reported sexual arousal to the use of force, they were classified into the no arousal, moderate arousal or high arousal from force groups. To evaluate the veridicality of this classification, we assessed some subjects' (n = 118) penile tumescence in response to various depictions. The findings generally replicated those of the first experiment and confirmed the accuracy of the arousal-from-force classification. The no arousal and the moderate arousal from force subjects were less sexually aroused by aggressive than by nonaggressive portrayals, but the opposite was found for the high arousal from force group. Using the entire sample (N = 359), we also assessed differences on various factors among these three groups. We found strong differences on ideological factors, including acceptance of violence against and dominance over women. We also found differences in acceptance of nonsexual aggression and in subjects' beliefs that they might actually use force against women. In contrast, differences were not found on sexuality factors. The data's implications for theories on the causes of rape are discussed.
133 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relatively long-term effects of repeated exposure to violent and nonviolent pornography on male' laboratory aggression against women, and found that exposure to the violent or nonviolent pornographic stimuli was not found to affect laboratory aggression.
Abstract: This study examined the relatively long-term effects of repeated exposure to violent and nonviolent pornography on male' laboratory aggression against women. Self-reported likelihood of raping was also assessed as an individual differences variable that might mediate susceptibility to the effects of pornography and to ascertain whether it predicted actual aggressive behavior. Subjects were randomly assigned to the sexually violent, sexually nonviolent, or control exposure conditions. Those assigned to the sexually violent or sexually nonviolent conditions were exposed over a four-week period to ten stimuli including feature-length films and written and pictorial depictions, whereas control subjects were not exposed to any stimuli. About a week following the end of the exposure phase, subjects participated in what they believed to be a totally unrelated experiment in which aggression was assessed within a Buss paradigm. Exposure to the violent or nonviolent pornographic stimuli was not found to affect laboratory aggression. These data are discussed in terms of a recent analysis of media effects emphasizing the temporary activation of ideas in audience' minds. Likelihood of raping ratings was found to predict laboratory aggression.
110 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a social learning theory analysis of pornography and sexual aggression is presented, with a focus on the relation between social learning and pornography, and the authors propose a model of pornography as a social network.
Abstract: (1986). Pornography and Sexual Aggression: A Social Learning Theory Analysis. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 9, Communication Yearbook 9, pp. 181-213.
108 citations
TL;DR: Do media portrayals of interpersonal violence engender aggression among the observers? This question has been the focus of social scientific inquiry for over a quarter of a century as discussed by the authors, and the initial research efforts of numerous investigators led to the surgeon general's research program on television and social behavior in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Abstract: Do media portrayals of interpersonal violence engender aggression among the observers? This question has been the focus of social scientific inquiry for over a quarter of a century. The initial research efforts of numerous investigators led to the surgeon general's research program on television and social behavior in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The surgeon general's conclusion that “television violence, indeed, does have an adverse effect on certain members of our society” (Steinfeld, 1972) stimulated a torrent of research, congressional hearings, and expressions of public concern. The late 1970s and early 1980s also saw the emergence of cable television and the video cassette as major media forces. Accordingly, many teenagers and even preadolescents became frequent viewers of scenes that graphically couple sex and violence. Not surprisingly, a new research focus developed on the effects of such media stimuli.
60 citations