The Assessment of Subclinical Sexual Sadism (Asss): Scale Development, Validation, and Nomological Network Comparisons with Everyday Sadism

Sexual sadism has long been of interest to scholars and clinicians in psychology, and most research on sexual sadism to date has focused on forensic samples. However, more recently, research has uncovered the existence of sexual sadism in subclinical populations. Measures designed to assess the severe and clinically significant pole of sexual sadism have been established, but measures designed to capture the subclinical pole of the sexual sadism spectrum are lacking. The present work addressed this gap and ameliorated limitations of past measurement. The proposed Assessment of Subclinical Sexual Sadism (ASSS) was conceptualized to assess vicarious (i.e., fantasies and pornography habits) and direct (i.e., engagement with a consenting partner) behaviors while distinguishing from the related construct of everyday sadism. Participants (N = 1391) completed the ASSS and measures of dark personality, broad personality, personality disorder traits, aggression, romantic relationship satisfaction, social desirability, pleasure in sexual and nonsexual contexts, and the frequency of sadistic sexual fantasies. The ASSS demonstrated excellent psychometric properties, construct validity, and discriminant validity. This work presents an instrument for assessing subclinical sexual sadism so that clinicians and researchers can begin evaluating the full spectrum of sexual sadism.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Cease, Charlotte Kinrade

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hart, William

Contributors dc:contributor

• Barth, Joan
• Cox, Jennifer
• Garrison, Katie
• Glenn, Andrea

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

1050092

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/13784