“To Know Thyself”: A Qualitative Exploration of Motivating Factors for BDSM and Kink Participants Who Hold Dominant Identities

The motivations behind a person’s involvement in BDSM and kink are widely misunderstood, which further perpetuates stigma towards those who engage in BDSM and kink or are a part of the community. Prior work suggests that BDSM and kink engagement in general may function as self-help for people in the community (Beckmann, 2001). Media portrayals Dominant roles, however, are often harmful misrepresentations of BDSM and kink lifestyles and practices as being abusive. We collected online interviews completed by people with Dominant roles and identities to assess themes related to motivations specifically related to their self-identified role. Participants were asked 10 free-response questions regarding their motivations and experiences. The current study evaluated the themes present among 32 participants reporting Dominant identities. We found that participants’ descriptions of their motivations for being a Dominant consistently referred to five themes: upbringing and past experience; identity versus practice; control and power exchange; connection, fulfillment, and self-expression and individual and community values. This shows that there are complex motivating factors for participants to engage with or identify as Dominant, opening potential directions of exploration to understand the development of kink and BDSM identities and experiences.