Survey Results: Sexual Roles

Original SSC-survey analysis of BDSM roles. Scott hoped to find sexual masochism linked to a self-sabotaging 'low self-esteem set point' but found nothing of the sort. Results: roles are heavily gendered (71% of cis men prefer dominant vs 16% of cis women) and orientation-driven (80% of straight men dominant vs 34% gay); among straight men, dominance correlates weakly with good social skills, risk-taking, ambition, conservatism, low anxiety and high status; submissive men report lower sex drive and fewer partners. Two mild curiosities: OCD men are 4x less likely to be sadists, and men who grew up poor report ~2x the sadism (low confidence given many comparisons). No link to charity/EA/moral philosophy. He keeps the raw data private given its sensitivity.

Quality 56 · Solid. 56 — upper-Solid. Competent, honest original-research analysis, but — by Scott's own verdict — 'boring': the interesting hypothesis failed and the real effects are small and mostly unsurprising.

Claude’s paradigm shift 30 · Slight. 30 — Slight; routine survey analysis with no novel frame (the novel hypothesis didn't pan out).

Real-world impact 2 · Minor. 2 — within-blog original research; no reach.