Conquest by Force: A Narcissistic Reactance Theory of Rape and Sexual Coercion

By Roy F. Baumeister, Kathleen R. Catanese, H. Wallace. 2002

177 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Men's efforts to force women to engage in unwanted sexual activity can be explained by a combination of reactance theory and narcissism. Reactance theory suggests that deprivation of specific sexual options will cause men to desire them more, to try to reclaim them by forcing sex and by aggressing against the woman who has refused them, and assorted findings support this analysis. Narcissism is proposed to moderate the link, especially because coercion is relatively rare in response to sexual refusals. Evidence about sexually coercive men supports the narcissism hypothesis, such as by showing self-serving cognitive distortions, an excessive concern with being admired, an inflated sense of entitlement, selectively low empathy, and a broadly exploitative approach to heterosexual relations.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Gender Studies, Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7cb929c7a520643ce446624dd2a930117ea6ad55

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In Clinical Psychology

1. J. Foster
2. W. Keith Campbell
3. Dennis E. Reidy
4. Virgil Zeigler‐Hill
5. Avi Besser
6. Marc A. Martinez
7. A. Zeichner
8. Al-Karim Samnani

In Gender Studies

1. Dennis E. Reidy
2. Al-Karim Samnani
3. K. Ryan
4. W. Keith Campbell
5. Avi Besser
6. Parbudyal Singh
7. A. Zeichner

In Health

1. Al-Karim Samnani
2. Virgil Zeigler‐Hill
3. K. Ryan
4. Avi Besser
5. Parbudyal Singh
6. A. Zeichner

Citations in the corpus

• Effects of narcissistic entitlement and exploitativeness on human physical aggression (2008, background): “For example, in discussing rape (Felson & Krohn, 1990) and rape reactance theory ( Baumeister, Cantanese & Wallace, 2002 ), theorists have concluded that most sexually-motivated rapists use violence as a means to an end.”
• The Dark Triad and sexual harassment proclivity (2016, background): “Baumeister, Catanese, and Wallace (2002) have argued that narcissistic men may prefer consensual sexual activities but they are willing to resort to sexual coercive behaviors when they are denied sexual access to women they desire.”
• Workplace Bullying: Considering the Interaction Between Individual and Work Environment (2015, background): “Moreover, narcissists tend to be coercive (Baumeister et al. 2002), lack empathy toward others (Judge et al.”
• Gender Differences in Narcissism and Courtship Violence in Dating Couples (2008, background): “Narcissism has also been proposed as an explanation for date rape (Baumeister and Catanese 2001; Baumeister et al. 2002).”