ORIGINAL PAPER Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships: A Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Women’s Infidelity and Men’s Dominance and Control

Abstract Researchers studying the proximate (or immedi-ate) causes of sexual coercion have proposed that partner rape is motivated by a man’s attempt to dominate and control his partner and that this expression of power is the product of men’s social roles. Researchers studying the ultimate (or evolutionary) causes, in contrast, have proposed that partner rape may function as an anti-cuckoldry tactic, with its occur-rence related to a man’s suspicions of his partner’s sexual infidelity. In two studies, we collected data relevant to both perspectives to explore how these variables interact with men’s sexual coercion in an intimate relationship. Regression analyses from Study 1 (self-reports from 256 men) and Study 2 (partner-reports from 290 women) indicated that men’s sexual coercion of their partners was consistently predicted by female infidelity and men’s controlling behavior, suggestin