Pathways and Patterns of Entrance into BDSM

Abstract

Prior limited research on entrance into BDSM divided paths of entry into external or internal factors (Yosta & Hunter, 2012), while research on age at entry into BDSM has not considered variation by BDSM role identity, gender, sexual orientation, and other demographic differences. In this mixed-methods exploratory study, we contribute to this literature by collecting and analyzing qualitative interviews with 96 self-described practitioners of BDSM to more fully describe distinct pathways into BDSM, adding nuance to prior descriptions of entry. We also collected and analyzed surveys with 2,017 self-described practitioners of BDSM to examine patterns of age at entry into BDSM practices and fantasies, and selection into older or younger age at practice and age at fantasy by BDSM role identity, gender, sexual orientation, and other demographic characteristics. Interview respondents told "constructionist sexual stories'' describing introductions to BDSM via popular culture including pornography and other media, the Internet, or a sexual partner that awaked an inherent interest, along with "essentialist sexual stories" which described self-discovery solely attributed to an inherent personality characteristic. Survey data revealed that age at fantasy and onset of behavior varied by social-environmental factors. Pathways and patterns into BDSM behavior and fantasies therefore reflect a combination of idiosyncratic interests, exposure to ideas via the media or partners, and stratified social norms and opportunities related to sexual behavior.

The correlation between sadomasochists' experience and their sadomasochistic behaviors and fantasies: A qualitative analysis of interviews

“…In an Australian national study, there was little difference between the number of men and women, with a ratio of N male / N female = 8628/8185 (Richters et al, 2008 ). A sadomasochistic sample from the USA had a similar ratio: N male / N female = 801/1033 (Walker & Kuperberg, 2022 ). Both of these ratios were quite different from the ratio of N male / N female = 49/2 in this study.…”

“…In the secondary coding stage, we coded the records not only by pieces of description, as in existing studies on related topics (Hughes & Hammack, 2020 ; Walker & Kuperberg, 2022 ), but also by elements, especially word elements, to form node trees on another level. As we have not observed this process in previous studies, its contribution to this study is debatable.…”

“…Sadomasochists' self-reported origins of sadomasochistic interests are important clues to understanding how they developed this sexual preference. This has been investigated by existing studies (Hughes & Hammack, 2020;Walker & Kuperberg, 2022), which categorized origins of kink desires based on kinky people's responses to several broad discourses: identity (e.g., personality, personal taste, and role exploration), nurture (e.g., both traumatic and non-traumatic life experiences), nature (e.g., biology and genetics), culture (pornography, other media and the Internet), negation (e.g., disavowing or doubting a particular idea about the origins of their kink interests), and uncertainty (e.g., not being able to identify an origin of kinky desires). We went through this process, too, during our interviews, and apart from similar results as the above broad discourses, we also found discourse of "curiosity" and "pressure coping."…”

Learning on OnlyFans: User Perspectives on Knowledge and Skills Acquired on the Platform

“…In addition, we asked a question about new activities participants tried due to their OnlyFans use with a variety of choice options (e.g., sex toy use, phone sex, identity exploration). The multiple-choice response options for all questions were developed based on previous studies in related areas, such as research on the use of technology to engage in sexual behavior, digital sex content creation, pornography as a means to explore gender and sexual identity, and sexual interests associated with use of pornography (Attwood et al, 2018 ; Fritz et al, 2022 ; Gesselman et al, 2020 ; Jahnen et al, 2022 ; Stegeman 2021 ; Walker & Kuperberg, 2022 ; Wignall 2019 ). The qualitative portion consisted of one open-ended question (“What new things have you learned from using OnlyFans in terms of sexual practices, relationships, communication, yourself, your personal preferences, or sexual health?”).…”

Factor Analysis With Unusual Sexual Interests: A Replication Study in a Representative Population Sample

“…Moreover, the participants’ educational level was relatively high (Rahman et al, 2020). Higher educational level has been related to having a BDSM 1 identity (Labrecque et al, 2020; Mundy & Cioe, 2019; Walker & Kuperberg, 2022) and more engagement in online sexual activities (Wéry & Billieux, 2016). It thus can be hypothesized that the original sample was more sexually diverse than a population sample.…”