Not much is known about the etiology, or development, of deviant sexual interests. The aim of this systematic review was to provide a broad overview of current theories on the etiology of sexual deviance. We conducted a systematic search of the databases PubMed and APA PsycInfo (EBSCO). Studies were included when they discussed a theory regarding the etiology or development of sexual deviance. Included studies were assessed on quality criteria for good theories. Common etiological themes were extracted using thematic analysis. We included 47 theories explaining sexual deviance in general as well as various specific deviant sexual interests, such as pedophilia and sadism/masochism. Few theories (k = 7) were of acceptable quality as suggested by our systematic assessment of quality criteria for good theories (QUACGOT). These theories indicated that deviant sexual interests may develop as the result of an interplay of various factors: excitation transfer between emotions and sexual arousal, conditioning, problems with “normative” sexuality, and social learning. Neurobiological findings could not be included as no acceptable quality neurobiological theories could be retrieved. The important roles of excitation transfer and conditioning designate that dynamic, changeable processes take part in the etiology of sexual deviance. These same processes could potentially be deployed to diminish unwanted deviant sexual interests.
Background: Sexual deviance is regarded as an important risk factor for sexual offending. However, little is known about the development of deviant sexual interests. The transfer of arousal between emotions, i.e., excitation transfer, could attribute sexual salience to stimuli that would otherwise not be sexual in nature. As such, excitation transfer could contribute to the very beginning of unusual or deviant sexual interests. The current protocol proposes a study to investigate to what extent excitation transfer occurs, i.e., to what extent genital and subjective sexual arousal to sexual stimuli is higher in an emotional state than in a neutral state. Following a prior pilot study, several adjustments were made to the study protocol, including a stronger emotional manipulation by using 360-degree film clips and the inclusion of a larger and more sexually diverse sample. Methods: We will recruit 50 adult male volunteers with diverse sexual interests. We will induce sexual arousal in four different emotional states (aggression/dominance, endearment, fear, disgust) and a neutral state. Sexual arousal will be measured genitally using penile plethysmography and subjectively via self-report. Using paired samples t-tests, sexual arousal in the emotional states will be compared with sexual arousal in the neutral state. Discussion: We aim to show that arousal in response to emotional stimuli that are initially nonsexual in nature, can enhance sexual arousal. These findings have potentially important implications for the development of unusual and/or deviant sexual interests and possibly for the treatment of such sexual deviant interests in people who have committed sexual offenses.
A previous study found a variety of unusual sexual interests to cluster in a five-factor structure, namely submission/masochism, forbidden sexual activities, dominance / sadism, mysophilia, and fetishism (Schippers et al., 2021). The current study was an empirical replication to examine whether these findings generalized to a representative population sample. An online, anonymous sample (N = 256) representative of the Dutch adult male population rated 32 unusual sexual interests on a scale from 1 (very unappealing) to 7 (very appealing). An exploratory factor analysis assessed whether similar factors would emerge as in the original study. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis served to confirm the factor structure. Four slightly different factors of sexual interest were found: extreme, illegal and mysophilic sexual activities; light BDSM without real pain or suffering; heavy BDSM that may include pain or suffering; and illegal but lower-sentenced and fetishistic sexual activities. The model fit was acceptable. The representative replication sample was more sexually conservative and showed less sexual engagement than the original convenience sample. On a fundamental level, sexual interest in light BDSM activities and extreme, forbidden, and mysophilic activities seem to be relatively separate constructs.
