Latent profiles of risk among a community sample of men: Implications for sexual aggression

Of the proposed theoretical explanations for the perpetration of sexual assault, Malamuth's confluence theory remains the most prominent. Further development of this theory has incorporated alcohol use into the original pathways of impersonal sex and hostile masculinity. This study uses data from a nationwide online survey (n = 289) to examine the relationship of these three risk factors to sexual aggression using person-oriented methods, specifically latent profile analysis (LPA). Four statistically significant risk profiles were identified: low risk, moderate impersonal sex, high hostile masculinity, and high on all risk. All groups with elevated risk factors reported increased levels of sexual aggression. Groups 3 and 4 reported the highest levels. Implications for intervention and research are discussed.