From traits to triggers: Modeling the "perfect storm" of sexual violence perpetration risk

Despite decades of research, the study of sexual violence perpetration remains theoretically fragmented. Foundational models of general aggression, alongside etiological frameworks specific to sexual violence, have identified a robust set of correlates-including rape-supportive attitudes, antagonistic personality traits, alcohol use, and coercive peer norms; however, these approaches rarely provide a unified mechanistic account specifying when, how, and under what conditions these risk factors converge to produce coercive and abusive behavior. The overarching purpose of this review is to advance a process-based reconceptualization of sexual violence perpetration by integrating existing theories using the I³ Model (Instigation-Impellance-Inhibition) and Perfect Storm Theory. Throughout, we argue that these frameworks offer a generative structure for organizing dispositional, situational, affective, and relational risk factors, while specifying the temporal and interactional conditions under which risk is most likely to behaviorally produce sexual violence. Drawing on advances from intimate partner violence research, we also highlight the importance of modeling momentary affect, dyadic processes, and within-person variability to capture how perpetration risk unfolds in real time. Given that most prevention efforts target impelling risk factors such as attitudes and normative misperceptions, we further emphasize the need to conceptualize impellance as a multilevel system shaped by individual attitudes and beliefs, personality traits, and peer contexts. We conclude by outlining an integrative vision for a dynamic, multilevel science of sexual violence perpetration that moves the field beyond static correlates and toward developing mechanistic models capable of informing timing-sensitive, process-focused prevention interventions.