Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Mainstream and BDSM Sexual Practices and Their Relation to Interviewer Behavior: an Analogue Study

• Published in: The Psychological record Vol. 67; no. 4; pp. 435 - 446
• Main Authors: Stockwell, Fawna M. J., Hopkins, Lauren S., Walker, Diana J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2017; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Care and treatment; Dominance; Influence; Interviews; Masochism; Methods; Original Article; Practice; Professional attitudes; Psychiatric interviewing; Psychological assessment; Psychologists; Psychology; Public opinion; Questionnaires; Resistance (Psychology); Sadism; Sadomasochism (Sexual behavior); Sexual behavior; Sexual practices; Social aspects; Therapist-patient relations; Visual analogue scales; Clinical interview; Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure; Relational frame theory; BDSM; Implicit attitudes; Sexual behavior
• ISSN: 0033-2933; 2163-3452
• DOI: 10.1007/s40732-017-0225-4

The present study examined participants’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward mainstream and BDSM (bondage and discipline/dominance and submission/sadism and masochism) sexual terms using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and several questionnaires and investigated the relationship between scores on these measures and participant behavior toward a BDSM-labeled and a non-BDSM-labeled confederate during an interviewing task. Twenty-one participants, who were either graduate psychology students or practicing clinicians, completed the study. Results were consistent with previous research (Stockwell, Walker, & Eshleman,
The Psychological Record, 60
(2), 307–324,
2010
) in that responses on both the IRAP and Visual Analogue Scales showed an acceptance of mainstream sexual terms and unfavorable responding to BDSM terms; in contrast, Likert-scale questionnaire responses generally reflected favorable attitudes toward people who practice BDSM. IRAP scores were positively correlated with differences in smiling across the two interview conditions; that is, participants with anti-BDSM responding on the IRAP smiled significantly less while interviewing the BDSM-labeled confederate than when they interviewed the non-BDSM confederate. No other differences in interviewing behavior were observed or correlated with IRAP responding, suggesting that implicit attitudes may not be a reliable predictor of participant behavior during interviews of individuals labeled as practicing BDSM.