Cybercrimes

Open Access: No.

Abstract

Non-consensual intimate image dissemination (NCII), or else better known as “revenge pornography” is a form of technology-facilitated sexual violence that can have devastating effects on the victim. This is one of the first studies examining how demographic characteristics (gender, sexual orientation), personality traits (Dark Tetrad), and attitudes (aggrieved entitlement, sexual entitlement, sexual image abuse myth acceptance) predict NCII perpetration and victimization. In a sample of 810 undergraduate students (72.7% female and 23.3% male), 13.7% of the participants had at some point in their life, distributed nude, or sexual pictures of someone else without consent and 28.5% had experienced such victimization. NCII perpetration was predictive of NCII victimization and vice versa. Using binomial logistic regression, we found that women, members of the LGBQ+ community, those scoring higher in sadism, and participants with a history of NCII perpetration were more likely to report that someone had distributed their nude or sexual image without consent. Further, we found that those scoring higher in narcissism and sadism, along with those with a history of NCII victimization were more likely to report they had distributed the nude or sexual image of someone else without consent. Finally, the findings suggest that the relationship between victims and perpetrators is quite a bit more varied than the term “revenge pornography” implies.

Relevance

The incidence of victimization was higher for women than men; 75% of their perpetrators were male.

Heterosexual participants were 35% less likely to experience victimization.

Sexual and aggrieved entitlement, and belief in image abuse myths (i.e., the victim deserved it), were “positively correlated” with perpetration. So were narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism (part of the Dark Tetrad). In fact, higher psychopathy and narcissism scores significantly predicted” perpetration. “This suggests that specific characteristics that are associated with psychopathy and/or narcissism, like lack of empathy or incessant need for attention, could be used as starting point to inform research on the motivations associated” with perpetration.

Victimization is also a “significant predictor” of perpetration.

Citation

Karasavva, V., & Forth, A. (2022). Personality, Attitudinal, and Demographic Predictors of Non-consensual Dissemination of Intimate Images. Journal of interpersonal violence, 37(21-22), NP19265–NP19289. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211043586