Sexual Inhibition Moderates Associations Between Coerced Unwanted Sexual Contact and College Women’s BDSM Fantasies

Unwanted sexual contact (USC) via coercion is an impactful experience among college women. Emerging evidence suggests that BDSM fantasies are one domain of sexual expression that may be associated with sexual coercion. However, it remains unclear whether USC survivors are more likely to engage in such fantasies or how they relate to individual traits like sexual excitation/inhibition. We examined whether sexual excitation and inhibition moderated associations between history of USC and current BDSM fantasy engagement in a cross-sectional sample of 192 college women. Participants completed self-report measures assessing USC history, sexual excitation/inhibition, and BDSM fantasies across eight subdomains. Coercive USC history was significantly associated with endorsement of several BDSM fantasy domains: bondage, discipline, submission, masochism, and voyeurism. Among participants endorsing any BDSM fantasy, coercive USC history was associated with more frequent bondage and masochism fantasies. Sexual inhibition, but not excitation, moderated these associations: lower inhibition strengthened the link between coercive USC history and the probability of endorsing any bondage, submission, and masochism fantasies. Findings suggest that low inhibition interacts with survivors' coercive experiences to increase the likelihood of BDSM fantasy engagement. Implications for providers are discussed, particularly regarding affirming fantasy as a normative space to process sexual coercion.