Winning the Game: How Sexual Narcissism Relates to Adversarial Sexual Beliefs and Pick-Up Techniques

Sexual entitlement is a belief that one has a right to sex and has the right to demand it. Previous research has shown that sexual entitlement, or sexual narcissism, can predict negative sexual outcomes, such as infidelity and sexual aggression. This study (N = 217) investigated whether sexual narcissism might be related to dating beliefs and techniques that could be precursors to sexual aggression. We found that sexual narcissism predicted participants’ adversarial sexual beliefs and use of manipulative dating techniques, such as those publicized by the pick-up artist community. Exploratory analyses revealed gender differences among the correlations between study variables. We suggest that individuals who hold problematic beliefs about sex and dating are especially likely to use techniques to manipulate potential sexual partners.