Men sexually fantasized more frequently about sadistic, impersonal, pre/tactile courtship disorder, and bodily function themes, while women reported a greater use of masochistic fantasies; there was no sex difference regarding the use of romantic fantasies

Bartels, Ross, and Craig A. Harper. 2018. “An Exploration of the Factor Structure of Gray Et Al.’s Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire.” PsyArXiv. August 19. doi:10.31234/osf.io/wxj54

Abstract: The accurate assessment of sexual fantasy use is important for both research and forensic/clinical practice. Although a number of sexual fantasy questionnaires exist, they tend to be associated with high financial cost for researchers, outdated or ambiguous terminology, and/or embody ethical problems arising from overtly explicit items. One measure that does not contain these issues is Gray et al.’s (2003) Sexual Fantasy Questionnaire (SFQ). While the SFQ has recently gained some interest from researchers, it has not been thoroughly validated. Thus, in this study, we combined data from three online survey-based samples (N = 594) to examine the factor structure underpinning the SFQ. After conducting parallel and principal components analyses, a six-factor structure was settled upon. The resulting SFQ-revised contained 62-items, with the six factors reflecting the following fantasy themes: (1) masochistic, (2) sadistic, (3) romantic, (4) impersonal, (5) pre/tactile courtship disorder, and (6) bodily function. Data on how the six clusters differ across genders, sexual orientation, and relationship status are also provided. We also developed a short version of the SFQ-revised (37-items) for use when time or space are constrained. The theoretical and methodological significance of the revised SFQs are discussed, as well as recommendations for research and practice.

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[...] men sexually fantasized more frequently about sadistic, impersonal, pre/tactile courtship disorder, and bodily function themes, while women reported a greater use of masochistic fantasies. There was no sex difference regarding the use of romantic fantasies. In relation to sexual orientation, heterosexual participants sexually fantasized less frequently across all clusters or themes, compared to participants who identified as having a non-heterosexual sexual orientation. The only exception to this general trend was in relation to romantic fantasies, where there was no difference between heterosexual and non-heterosexual participants. Participants who were in a relationship at the time of data collection reported more frequent use of all fantasy clusters, with the exception of pre/tactile courtship disorder fantasies. Age was generally unrelated to any fantasy cluster (r’s < .21).