The DOI matches its Crossref record; 1 of the 1 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
I Knew It All Along: The Sexual Grooming Behaviors of Child Molesters and the Hindsight Bias
Abstract
Recent high profile cases of child sexual abuse have increased interest in the grooming behaviors of child molesters and why these offenders are not identified sooner. This study examined one possible explanation--the hindsight bias. Five hundred and twenty-six undergraduates were randomly assigned to read one of six vignettes and asked to rate the likelihood the person in the story is a child molester. Results supported the presence of the hindsight bias, with participants who were given outcome information overestimating the likelihood they would have predicted that the person was a child molester. Also, participants were able to recognize sexual grooming behaviors when the potential child molester was a relative and nonrelative. Findings indicated that sexual grooming behaviors may be more easily identified than previously proposed, but individuals greatly overestimate the likelihood they would have predicted a person was a child molester once they are given outcome information.
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In the citing paper
“Further, it can be challenging for police and family or community members to detect the grooming before the abuse occurs as predators vary in their strategies regarding their fear of getting caught [31].”
From Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs (2023) · cites this paper as [31]
In the citing paper
“It was discovered that people might not detect the potential writing pattern of a child predator, and giving hindsight could bias the result of rating by overestimating the likelihood that if the person is a predator [31].”
From Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs (2023) · cites this paper as [31]
In the citing paper
“The main goal of the predator in this phase is to control and manipulate the victim for further actions [30,31].”
From Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs (2023) · cites this paper as [31]
In the citing paper
“The deceptive trust development has the grooming process's primary role where predators obtain much information about the victim by being helpful, showing attention, and sharing secrets from previous relationships [31].”
From Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs (2023) · cites this paper as [31]
In the citing paper
“Predators do not show their motivation explicitly, and the grooming conversation is not of a sexual topic nature in many cases [31].”
From Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs (2023) · cites this paper as [31]
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Online grooming detection: A comprehensive survey of child exploitation in chat logs
Borj, P. R., Raja, K., & Bours, P. (2023) · Knowledge-Based Systems · doi:10.1016/j.knosys.2022.110039 · Cited by 38
Identification of red flag child sexual grooming behaviors
Jeglic, E. L., Winters, G. M., & Johnson, B. N. (2023) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105998 · Cited by 48
Self-citationThe Sexual Grooming Model of Child Sex Trafficking
Winters, G. M., Schaaf, S., Grydehøj, R. F., Allan, C., Lin, A., & Jeglic, E. L. (2022) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2021.1926031 · Cited by 28
Self-citationThe prevalence of sexual grooming behaviors among survivors of childhood sexual abuse
Winters, G. M., Jeglic, E. L., Johnson, B. N., & Chou, C. (2024) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106842 · Cited by 17
Self-citation3.2 Sexual Online Grooming of Children – A Short Overview of the Offender Literature
Schmidt, A. F. (2025) · Sexual Online Grooming of Children · doi:10.5771/9783748903291-135 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- Authors
- Winters, G. M., & Jeglic, E. L.
- Affiliations
- John Jay College of Criminal Justice (US)
- Corresponding author
- Winters, Georgia M.
- Venue
- Journal of Child Sexual Abuse
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-01-02
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 20-36
- ISSN
- 1053-8712 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-0679
- OpenAlex
- W2288907329
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 4.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Child Sexual Abuse (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Deception detection and forensic psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- sexual grooming, child molesters, hindsight bias, child sexual abuse, offender identification
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Child, Child Abuse, Sexual, Female, Humans, Male, Rape, Sexual Behavior, Criminals
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