Exploring Correlates of Multiple Perpetrator Rape Proclivity in Women.

Abstract

Little is known about women's interest in multiple perpetrator rape (MPR), as most of the literature to date has investigated men. Thus, the aim of the current study was to explore correlates of interest in MPR in women. Loneliness, psychopathy, and anger rumination were hypothesized to be related to an interest in MPR, according to previous work. In a fixed order, participants completed a series of questionnaires on Qualtrics that included the Multiple-Perpetrator Rape Interest Scale (M-PRIS), the UCLA Loneliness Scale: Short-form, the Aggression Questionnaire, the Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire, the Anger Rumination Scale, the Measure for Assessing Subtle Rape Myths, and the Self-Report Psychopathy (SRP-III) Short Form. Descriptive analyses revealed that most of the participants (N = 182) were university educated and married White women. A backward stepwise linear regression indicated that psychopathy, rape myth acceptance, aggression, and deviant sexual fantasies were individually correlated with MPR interest. An in-depth analysis of the M-PRIS showed that 37% of participants had some level of sexual arousal, behavioral propensity, and/or enjoyment of hypothetical scenarios involving rape. Further work is needed to help establish risk factors for MPR interest in women and to assess which risk factors are most predictive of participating in rape.