Interactions between optical beams incident upon and higher‐order self‐diffracted beam generated within an absorptive and optically active photorefractive crystal of 23 symmetry are investigated by solving a set of coupled differential equations. It is shown that, under favorable conditions, a significant amount of power may be transferred to the newly generated wave. Investigated are the effects of optical activity, thickness and absorption of the crystal, coupling constant, and off‐Bragg parameter on energy transfer to the higher‐order diffracted beam. Coupled wave equations are solved numerically by a fourth‐order Runge–Kutta method and results are presented in graphical form. The analysis is valid only for the near collinear interacting beams, i.e., in the limit of large grating spacing.