Interest in physical danger: does it mediate the relationship between gender and violent offending?

Purpose The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that the relationship between gender and violent offending is mediated, in part, by an interest in participating in physically dangerous activities. Design/methodology/approach This study makes use of self-report data from a sample of college students and other adults that they recruited to participate in this study to test the hypothesis that having an interest in physically dangerous activities mediates, at least in part, the gender–violence association. Two measures of violent offending are examined: total violent offending and the number of different types of violence committed. Relevant control variables are included in multivariate models, and bootstrapping mediation analysis is also conducted. Findings Net of the effects of controls, an index for interest in physically dangerous activities, significantly predicts both total violence and the number of types of violence committed. Bootstrapping-based mediation analysis produces support for the hypothesis that males have higher rates of interpersonal violence than females, in part, because of a greater desire to engage in physically dangerous activities. Originality/value This study is an important step in understanding why males are more likely to engage in interpersonal violence than females.