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Glomb K, Piotrowski P, Romanowska IA. It is not real until it feels real: Testing a new method for simulation of eyewitness experience with virtual reality technology and equipment. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:4336-4350. [PMID: 37507651 PMCID: PMC11289041 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-023-02186-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Laboratory research in the psychology of witness testimony is often criticized for its lack of ecological validity, including the use of unrealistic artificial stimuli to test memory performance. The purpose of our study is to present a method that can provide an intermediary between laboratory research and field studies or naturalistic experiments that are difficult to control and administer. It uses Video-360° technology and virtual reality (VR) equipment, which cuts subjects off from external stimuli and gives them control over the visual field. This can potentially increase the realism of the eyewitness's experience. To test the method, we conducted an experiment comparing the immersion effect, emotional response, and memory performance between subjects who watched a video presenting a mock crime on a head-mounted display (VR goggles; n = 57) and a screen (n = 50). The results suggest that, compared to those who watched the video on a screen, the VR group had a deeper sense of immersion, that is, of being part of the scene presented. At the same time, they were not distracted or cognitively overloaded by the more complex virtual environment, and remembered just as much detail about the crime as those viewing it on the screen. Additionally, we noted significant differences between subjects in ratings of emotions felt during the video. This may suggest that the two formats evoke different types of discrete emotions. Overall, the results confirm the usefulness of the proposed method in witness research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaja Glomb
- Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Przemysław Piotrowski
- Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Kraków, Poland
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2
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Lissitsa D, Hovers M, Shamuilova M, Ezrapour T, Peled-Avron L. Update on cannabis in human sexuality. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2024:10.1007/s00213-024-06643-4. [PMID: 38977465 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-024-06643-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/21/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
RATIONALE Sexuality is a central aspect of being human that encompasses many facets. Cannabis, a widely used psychoactive substance, has been associated with various effects on sexuality. The relationship between cannabis and sexuality is complex and multifaceted, involving physiological, psychological, and social factors. OBJECTIVES This review aims to provide an overview of the current literature on the effects of cannabis on several sexual functions, including sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction. It also discusses the potential mechanisms underlying these effects, as well as the impact of dose and frequency of use. RESULTS This review has revealed a complex relationship between cannabis dosage and its influence on sexuality. It appears that the frequency of cannabis use in humans has been associated with the frequency of sexual activities. Individuals who use cannabis more frequently tend to report higher levels of sexual activity. Moreover, there is a notable gender difference in how cannabis affects sexuality. In addition, we found lower doses of cannabis to be linked to heightened sexual desire and enjoyment, whereas higher doses may lead to a decrease in sexual desire and performance. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the association between cannabis and sexuality is complex and warrants further research to better understand the psychological and neurological mechanisms that underlie the effect of cannabis on these sexuality functions and its implications for sexual health. To advance in this endeavor, a crucial step is establishing a precise measurement of dosage in human studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Lissitsa
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat Gan, Israel.
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat Gan, Israel.
| | - May Hovers
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Michal Shamuilova
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Tal Ezrapour
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Leehe Peled-Avron
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat Gan, Israel
- Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, 5290002, Ramat Gan, Israel
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3
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George WH, Blayney JA, Davis KC. Impact of Acute Alcohol Consumption on Sexuality: A Look at Psychological Mechanisms. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2024; 20:307-331. [PMID: 38346294 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-080921-075423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Alcohol's link with sexuality is long-standing and prominent. While research continues to document robust associations between drinking and sexual behavior, scientific attention now centers primarily on evaluating mechanisms and attendant theoretical frameworks to advance our understanding of how alcohol exerts a causal impact. We describe four domains with reliable evidence of alcohol effects: sexualized social perceptions, sexual arousal, sexual risk taking, and sexual assault. We consider three contextual frames: distal factors associated with encountering opportunities for alcohol-involved sex, proximal factors associated with alcohol's acute effects, and distal-proximal interactions. We then examine the empirical support for mechanisms embedded within four theoretical frameworks: alcohol disinhibition, alcohol expectancy, alcohol myopia, and emotion regulation. Support for disinhibition mechanisms is evident with sexual arousal only. Expectancy and myopia mechanisms enjoy support across domains and make up bases for integrative expectancy-myopia causal explanations. Emotion regulation mechanisms evidence preliminary support in risk taking and sexual assault. Implications and future directions are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- William H George
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA;
| | - Jessica A Blayney
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Kelly Cue Davis
- Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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4
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Poston AM, Oliver TL, Lanti A, Benning SD. Why College Women and Men Refrain from Sex Despite Desire: Development of the No Sex Despite Desire (NSDD) Measure. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024:1-14. [PMID: 38940432 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2024.2368695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Humans have sex for myriad reasons, many unrelated to desire. But under what conditions does sexual desire not lead to sex? We investigated reasons college students refrain from sex despite desire and having an attractive, willing partner and relationships between these reasons and other aspects of sexuality and personality. For item generation, 604 participants identified 109 reasons why individuals may refrain from sex despite desire. For construct validation, 712 participants reported the frequency they experienced these reasons on a novel measure. Every reason evidencing discernible gender differences was endorsed more by women. These items largely concentrated in factors of Personal Insecurities and Principled Concerns. No gender differences emerged on the Partner Issues factor. Factors differentially related to sexuality and personality variables. Principled Concerns related negatively to sociosexual behavior and attitudes and positively to sexual traditionalism across genders. Partner Issues positively correlated with sociosexual behavior and desire for women. Personal Insecurities negatively correlated with sociosexual attitudes for men. Principled Concerns related to sexual functioning issues for women. Personal Insecurities and Principled Concerns related to worse sexual functioning for men. Personal Insecurities related to Neuroticism across genders. These results suggest potential directions for therapeutic interventions and further research.
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5
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Vandervoort M, Liosatos A, Aladhami H, Suschinsky KD, Lalumière ML. Victim Sexual Arousal During Nonconsensual Sex: A Scoping Review. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2024; 53:2305-2318. [PMID: 38724699 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-024-02852-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
Sexual arousal in male and female victims during nonconsensual sex is an understudied phenomenon with many potential psychological, clinical, and legal implications for survivors. The aim of this scoping review was to assess the literature to determine whether we could estimate the frequency and circumstances of physiological sexual arousal (e.g., erection, lubrication, ejaculation, orgasm) among victims during nonconsensual sex. Six reference database and hand searches led to the screening of 13,894 articles and other reports. Eight articles and one book published between 1977 and 2019 included relevant data from 136 male survivors and 250 female survivors. Results confirmed that physiological sexual arousal (only genital responses were mentioned) can occur in both male and female victims during nonconsensual sex. The frequency of these responses could not be determined because of the widely different methodologies used. In addition, it was not possible to determine the circumstances in which victim sexual arousal was more likely to occur although some were inferred. The results of the scoping review highlight that physiological sexual arousal during nonconsensual sex does occur for victims but has not been studied systematically. There is a clear need to properly assess the type, circumstances, consequences, and frequency of sexual arousal during nonconsensual sex in large and diverse populations of male and female survivors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariève Vandervoort
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 0X7, Canada
| | - Andrea Liosatos
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 0X7, Canada
| | - Haybet Aladhami
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 0X7, Canada
| | | | - Martin L Lalumière
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 0X7, Canada.
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6
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Blumenstock SM, Suschinsky K, Brotto LA, Chivers ML. Genital arousal and responsive desire among women with and without sexual interest/arousal disorder symptoms. J Sex Med 2024; 21:539-547. [PMID: 38582607 PMCID: PMC11144479 DOI: 10.1093/jsxmed/qdae036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Models depicting sexual desire as responsive to sexual arousal may be particularly apt for women experiencing arousal or desire difficulties, and the degree to which arousal triggers desire may depend on the relationship context and desire target and timing-yet, these associations have not been directly tested among women with and without sexual interest/arousal disorder (SIAD). AIM To assess the role of SIAD status and relationship satisfaction in the associations between genital arousal and 4 types of responsive desire. METHODS One hundred women (n = 27 meeting diagnostic criteria for SIAD) in romantic relationships with men viewed a sexual film (pleasurable intimate depiction of oral sex and penile-vaginal intercourse) while their genital arousal was recorded via vaginal photoplethysmography (n = 63) or thermal imaging of the labia (n = 37). Partner and solitary desire was assessed immediately before and after the film (immediate desire) and 3 days later (delayed desire). OUTCOMES Outcomes consisted of genital response (z scored by method) and associations between genital response and responsive sexual desire. RESULTS The key difference between women with and without SIAD was not in their ability to experience genital arousal but in how their genital responses translated to responsive sexual desire. Women with SIAD actually exhibited greater genital arousal than unaffected women. Associations between genital arousal and desire were significant only for women with SIAD and depended on relationship satisfaction and desire type. For women with SIAD with low relationship satisfaction, higher arousal predicted lower immediate desire for a partner; for those with high relationship satisfaction, arousal was either positively related (vaginal photoplethysmography) or unrelated (thermal imaging of the labia) to immediate desire for a partner. Associations with other desire types were not significant. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Patterns of genital arousal and partner-specific responsive desire among women affected with SIAD were indicative of an avoidance model in response to heightened genital arousal, unless relationship satisfaction was high; attending to genital arousal sensations could be a means of triggering sexual desire for women with SIAD who are satisfied in their relationships. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS This is one of the first sexual psychophysiologic studies to connect relationship factors to patterns of sexual response. The differing arousal assessment procedures and lack of official diagnosis may have attenuated results. The homogeneous sample and in-person session requirement limit generalizability. CONCLUSION When compared with unaffected women, women affected by SIAD may exhibit stronger arousal responses with sufficiently incentivized sexual stimuli, and the connection between their genital arousal and responsive desire for their partners may be stronger and more dependent on relationship context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shari M Blumenstock
- Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston K7L 3L3, Canada
- Kinsey Institute, Indiana University–Bloomington, Bloomington IN 47405, United States
| | - Kelly Suschinsky
- Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, University of Ottawa, Ottawa K1Z 7K4, Canada
| | - Lori A Brotto
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 2A1, Canada
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7
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Al-Hassany L, Boucherie DM, Couturier EGM, MaassenVanDenBrink A. Case reports: Could sexual dysfunction in women with migraine be a side effect of CGRP inhibition? Cephalalgia 2024; 44:3331024241248837. [PMID: 38796855 DOI: 10.1177/03331024241248837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The development and approval of antibodies targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide or its receptor mark a revolutionary era for preventive migraine treatment. Real-world evidence sheds light on rare, stigmatized or overlooked side effects of these drugs. One of these potential side effects is sexual dysfunction. CASE REPORTS We present two cases of one 42-year-old and one 45-year-old female patient with chronic migraine who both reported sexual dysfunction as a possible side effect of treatment with galcanezumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide. DISCUSSION As calcitonin gene-related peptide is involved in vaginal lubrication as well as genital sensation and swelling, inhibiting the calcitonin gene-related peptide pathway may lead to sexual dysfunction as a potential side effect. CONCLUSION Sexual dysfunction in female migraine patients might be a rare and overlooked side effect of monoclonal antibodies targeting the calcitonin gene-related peptide pathway. Considering the discomfort and stigma surrounding both migraine and sexual dysfunction, we advocate for an open attitude and awareness among clinicians toward such side effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Al-Hassany
- Division of Vascular Medicine and Pharmacology, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Deirdre M Boucherie
- Division of Vascular Medicine and Pharmacology, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Emile G M Couturier
- Department of Neurology/Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurologie Centrum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Antoinette MaassenVanDenBrink
- Division of Vascular Medicine and Pharmacology, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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8
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Prantner S, Giménez-García C, Espino-Payá A, Escrig MA, Ruiz-Padial E, Ballester-Arnal R, Pastor MC. The standardization of a new Explicit Pornographic Picture Set (EPPS). Behav Res Methods 2024:10.3758/s13428-024-02418-z. [PMID: 38693442 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02418-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Pictures with affective content have been extensively used in scientific studies of emotion and sexuality. However, only a few standardized picture sets have been developed that offer explicit images, with most lacking pornographic pictures depicting diverse sexual practices. This study aimed to fill this gap through developing a standardized affective set of diverse pornographic pictures (masturbation, oral sex, vaginal sex, anal sex, group sex, paraphilia) of same-sex and opposite-sex content, offering dimensional affective ratings of valence, arousal, and dominance, as well as co-elicited discrete emotions (disgust, moral and ethical acceptance). In total, 192 pornographic pictures acquired from online pornography platforms and 24 control IAPS images have been rated by 319 participants (Mage = 22.66, SDage = 4.66) with self-reported same- and opposite-sex sexual attraction. Stimuli were representative of the entire affective space, including positively and negatively perceived pictures. Participants showed differential affective perception of pornographic pictures according to gender and sexual attraction. Differences in affective ratings related to participants' gender and sexual attraction, as well as stimuli content (depicted sexual practices and sexes). From the stimuli set, researchers can select explicit pornographic pictures based on the obtained affective ratings and technical parameters (i.e., pixel size, luminosity, color space, contrast, chromatic complexity, spatial frequency, entropy). The stimuli set may be considered a valid tool of diverse explicit pornographic pictures covering the affective space, in particular, for women and men with same- and opposite-sex sexual attraction. This new explicit pornographic picture set (EPPS) is available to the scientific community for non-commercial use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Prantner
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - Cristina Giménez-García
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - Alejandro Espino-Payá
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Miguel A Escrig
- Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Rafael Ballester-Arnal
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - M Carmen Pastor
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana, Spain.
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9
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Dubé S, Williams M, Santaguida M, Hu R, Gadoury T, Yim B, Vachon D, Johnson AP. Hot for Robots! Sexual Arousal Increases Willingness to Have Sex with Robots. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024; 61:638-648. [PMID: 36449349 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2022.2142190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Robots designed to elicit sexual arousal are coming. Sexual arousal can increase our willingness to engage in risky or unconventional sexual behaviors. However, researchers have yet to examine whether this effect extends to robots. Hence, this study provides the first empirical evidence that state sexual arousal can increase our willingness to engage erotically with robots. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that levels of sexual arousal would positively predict willingness to engage erotically with robots (Hypothesis 1); and that men would be more willing to engage erotically with robots than women (Hypothesis 2). A convenience sample of 321 adults (≥18y) completed a two-part online survey measuring their willingness to have sex with, love, engage in an intimate relationship with, and be friends with a robot and a human before and after viewing a sexually explicit video. The results partly support Hypotheses 1-2. They show that state sexual arousal increases willingness to have sex with a robot, and that men are more willing to have sex and engage in an intimate relationship with a robot than women, pre- and post-manipulation. These findings are important given the rise of sex robots and their potential influence on our intimate decisions and behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Dubé
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University
| | - M Williams
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University
| | | | - R Hu
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University
| | - T Gadoury
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University
| | - B Yim
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University
| | - D Vachon
- Department of Psychology, McGill University
| | - A P Johnson
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University
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10
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Lakhsassi L, Borg C, de Jong PJ. The Influence of Subjective Sexual Arousal and Disgust on Pain. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024; 61:671-681. [PMID: 37651743 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2252422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Current models propose that inhibited sexual arousal is a key component in maintaining sexual pain in women with Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder. It thus follows that enhancing sexual arousal may be an effective strategy to modulate pain, but this effect has not been successfully demonstrated with women, although it has been successful with men. This study built on previous works and examined if the pain-killing effect of sexual arousal might have been undermined by concurrently-elicited disgust. We tested whether women experience disgust as well as sexual arousal when viewing sex stimuli, and whether disgust has an exacerbating effect on pain. Female participants (N = 164) were randomly distributed to watch a porn, disgust, or neutral train-ride film. A cold pressor test (CPT) was utilized to induce pain at the same time that participants viewed their respective film. Pain was indexed by the duration that participants kept their hand in the cold water, and by self-reported pain intensity at the time they quit the CPT. The results showed no differences in pain across conditions. The sex stimulus elicited substantial disgust as well as sexual arousal, and there was a negative correlation between the two emotions. Disgust was not found to increase pain compared to both the neutral and sex conditions. Thus, the findings provide no support for a pain-modulatory effect of subjective sexual arousal on pain in women. This might, however, be due to the sex stimulus having elicited an ambivalent state between an appetitive and aversive emotion concurrently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Lakhsassi
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen
| | - Charmaine Borg
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen
| | - Peter J de Jong
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen
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Chivers ML, Zdaniuk B, Lalumière M, Brotto LA. Effects of Group Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy versus Supportive Sex Education on Sexual Concordance and Sexual Response Among Women with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024:1-15. [PMID: 38477943 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2024.2319695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
Low interest in sexual activity and impaired sexual response are among women's most frequent sexual concerns. Mindfulness-based treatments improve low sexual desire and arousal and associated distress. One theorized mechanism of change is the cultivation of increased mind-body awareness via greater concordance between psychological and physiological components of sexual response. We examined sexual psychophysiology data from 148 cisgender women randomized to receive mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MCBT: n = 70) or supportive sex education (STEP: n = 78) over eight weekly group sessions. Women completed in-lab assessments of subjective, affective, and genital sexual responses to an erotic film pre- and post-treatment, and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Both groups showed positive changes in sexual and affective responses, but these were generally more pronounced for MBCT. MCBT increased sexual concordance to a greater degree, and gains in sexual concordance predicted improvements in sexual distress throughout treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bozena Zdaniuk
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia
| | | | - Lori A Brotto
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia
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12
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Pfaus JG, Zakreski E. Auditory Cues Alter the Magnitude and Valence of Subjective Sexual Arousal and Desire Induced by an Erotic Video. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2024; 53:1065-1073. [PMID: 38302852 PMCID: PMC10920426 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02802-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 12/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Although women and men rate their subjective arousal similarly in response to "female-centric" erotic videos, women rate their subjective arousal lower than men in response to "male-centric" videos, which often end with the male's ejaculation. This study asked whether ratings of subjective sexual arousal and desire using the Sexual Arousal and Desire Inventory (SADI) would be altered if this ending was present or absent, and whether including or excluding the accompanying soundtrack would influence the magnitude and direction of the responses. A total of 119 cis-gendered heterosexual undergraduates (59 women and 60 men) viewed an 11-min sexually explicit heterosexual video that ended with a 15-s ejaculation scene. Two versions of the video were created, one with the ejaculatory ending (E+) and one without (E-). Participants were assigned randomly to view one of the two versions with (S+) or without (S-) the accompanying soundtrack, after which they completed the state version of the SADI. Women and men found both sequences without sound less arousing on the Evaluative, Motivational, and Physiological subscales of the SADI relative to the S+ sequences. However, on the Negative/Aversive subscale, women found the E + S- sequence more negative than did men, whereas this difference was not found with sound. Thus, women and men were sensitive to the auditory content of sexually explicit videos, and scenes of sexual intercourse ending with explicit ejaculation increased the Evaluative and Motivational properties of subjective sexual arousal and desire. However, this occurred in women only when the auditory cues signaled a clear and gratifying sexual interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- James G Pfaus
- Department of Psychology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, 18200, Prague, Czech Republic.
- Center for Sexual Health and Intervention, Czech National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic.
| | - Ellen Zakreski
- Department of Psychology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, 18200, Prague, Czech Republic
- Center for Sexual Health and Intervention, Czech National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
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13
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Shigeto A, Anders KM. "It's Almost Boring When It Should Be Enjoyable and Fun": College Students' Definitions of Bad Sex. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024:1-13. [PMID: 38411575 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2024.2319258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Some of the primary reasons for sexual activities among college students include self-focused motives such as pleasure, along with other-focused motives that facilitate relatedness such as intimacy and emotional connection. However, college students' motivations for sex (or lack thereof) may also be impacted by the meaning they make of their own or peers' experience of "bad sex" - sex that is consensual yet "bad" or "negative" in some way. Therefore, the current study qualitatively explored college students' definitions of "bad sex." A total of 300 college-attending emerging adults (ages 18-25) provided open-ended responses regarding their definition of "bad sex" that is not sexual assault or rape. Using a thematic analytic approach, we identified six main themes on how participants defined what constituted "bad sex": (1) Lack of Pleasure, (2) Negative Outcomes (3) Unmet Expectations, (4) Sexual Violence, (5) Lack of Connection, and (6) Bad Partner. Additionally, the themes were examined based on gender identity, sexual activity status, sexual orientation, and relationship status. Implications for college sex education along with areas of future research with diverse populations and qualitative methodology are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aya Shigeto
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Nova Southeastern University
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14
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Letkiewicz AM, Li LY, Hoffman LMK, Lieberman L, Hsu KJ, Shankman SA. Cognitive inflexibility and heightened error monitoring are related to lower sexual functioning. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 196:112281. [PMID: 38104774 PMCID: PMC10843768 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.112281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Sexual functioning is an important predictor of well-being and relationship satisfaction. Previous research indicates that several aspects of cognitive function are related to sex-related behaviors and functioning among individuals with sex-related disorders, neurological disorders, and in older adults; however, this has been relatively underexamined in younger populations. To examine this, the present study assessed whether behavioral and/or neurophysiological measures of cognitive function are associated with sexual functioning in a community sample of young 489 adults (64 % female) ages 18-30. Cognitive flexibility (n = 460) and inhibition (n = 466) were measured using neuropsychological assessment (D-KEFS), and conflict monitoring and error monitoring were measured by event-related potentials (conflict N2: n = 394; error-related negativity: n = 389). After separately testing relations between the different measures of cognitive function and sexual functioning, we assessed whether results (1) remained after covarying for externalizing and internalizing dimensions (PID-5; n = 489) or (2) varied by gender. Finally, we tested whether any aspects of cognitive function were unique predictors of sexual functioning. Cognitive flexibility and error monitoring (i.e., error-related negativity) were both significantly related to sexual functioning among males and females, such that poorer cognitive flexibility and heightened error monitoring were related to lower sexual functioning. No significant effects emerged for inhibition or conflict monitoring. In a multiple regression model, cognitive flexibility and error monitoring each accounted for a unique portion of variance in sexual functioning beyond other aspects of cognitive function and psychopathology-related traits. Results suggest that cognitive function is a meaningful correlate of sexual functioning in young adulthood, which should be considered further in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison M Letkiewicz
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Lilian Y Li
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Lija M K Hoffman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Lynne Lieberman
- Northwell Health, Center for Traumatic Stress, Resilience, and Recovery, Glen Oaks, NY, USA
| | - Kevin J Hsu
- Department of Psychological and Social Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Abington, PA, USA
| | - Stewart A Shankman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
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15
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Prantner S, Giménez-García C, Espino-Payá A, Escrig MA, Fuentes-Sánchez N, Ballester-Arnal R, Pastor MC. Female Affective Perception of Mainstream and Paraphilic Pornography: Associations with Sexual and Psychological Intrapersonal Variables. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2024; 53:715-733. [PMID: 37863863 PMCID: PMC10844147 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02701-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023]
Abstract
Understanding affective perceptual processes can further contribute to the explanation of motivation and actions, as well as sexual risk behaviors. Pornography can be considered salient emotional content and is popular, also among females. Yet, the female perspective on pornography has often been overlooked and it remains unclear how individual variables may be associated with the affective perception of pornography and could provide a risk profile. Possible associations between several sexual and psychological intrapersonal variables and the affective perception of various forms of pornography were analyzed from the female perspective. A sample of 231 females (M = 21.87 years; SD = 3.9 years) provided ratings of affective valence, arousal, disgust, and moral and ethical acceptance for mainstream pornographic and paraphilic images of dominance, submission, or sexual violence. Paraphilic pornography was perceived as less pleasant, arousing, and moral and ethically acceptable, but more disgusting compared to mainstream pornography. This was more pronounced among females who had never consumed pornography. Results further suggest that the female affective perception of pornography was associated with the following sexual intrapersonal variables: sexual sensation seeking for physical sensations, erotophilia, lack of sexual control, problematic pornography consumption, and sexual disgust sensitivity. Of the assessed psychological intrapersonal variables, only anxiety was negatively associated with disgust for paraphilic pornography. It is important to further analyze the female affective perception of pornography and associated variables to include them in strategies for prevention and for addressing problematic consequences of the acceptance of specific sexual content and behaviors, especially related to sexualized violence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Prantner
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - Cristina Giménez-García
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - Alejandro Espino-Payá
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Miguel A Escrig
- Departamento de Psicología. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Nieves Fuentes-Sánchez
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - Rafael Ballester-Arnal
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
| | - M Carmen Pastor
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain.
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16
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Saavedra-Roa A, Vallejo-Medina P. A non-latex condom has no influence on male physiological sexual arousal. Int J Clin Health Psychol 2024; 24:100442. [PMID: 38348144 PMCID: PMC10859562 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2024.100442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Background/Objective Men do not use external condoms for several reasons, which can result in public health problems. One of these is related to Condom-Associated Erectile Problems. This study aimed to examine the sexual arousal response of heterosexual men when using an external condom made of synthetic resin type AT-10. Method A total of 82 Colombian young men (Mage = 23.17 years, SD = 3.04, age range = 18-30) participated in this experimental study. Two random groups (experimental and control; n = 41 each) were compared. The experimental group used condoms, whereas the control group did not. Fit and feel condom perceptions, initial erectile scores, age, and substance use were controlled for. Erection was measured while viewing a sexual video by using penile plethysmography and subjective arousal. Results The results, obtained from comparing the experimental group (using pre-erection condoms) with the control group (not using condoms), revealed no significant difference in both subjective and physiological sexual arousal. This suggests that pre-erection condoms do not have an effect on the erectile response. Discussion More research is needed in this area to provide treatment and clinical interventions or sexual and reproductive education to mitigate the occurrence of sexual dysfunction, unplanned pregnancies, or sexually transmitted infections. Also, research addresses public health issues related to the prevention and/or intervention of sexual risk behaviors and sexual dysfunctions, highlighting their significance in sexual education and clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Saavedra-Roa
- SexLab KL - Human Sexual Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá D.C., Colombia
| | - Pablo Vallejo-Medina
- SexLab KL - Human Sexual Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá D.C., Colombia
- Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Department of Psychology and Education Sciences, Barcelona, Spain
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17
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Snowden RJ, Gray NS, Uzzell KS. Implicit Sexual Cognitions in Women with Ambiphilic Sexual Attractions: A Comparison to Androphilic and Gynephilic Women. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2024; 53:141-152. [PMID: 37932461 PMCID: PMC10794405 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02727-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
Previous research using indirect cognitive measures (sometimes referred to as implicit measures) of sexual attraction have shown that women who are attracted to men (androphilic women) show category non-specific responses, whereas those who are attracted to women (gynephilic) show a category-specific bias to women. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether women who explicitly report approximately equal attraction to men and women (ambiphilic) would show similar non-category specific attraction at this implicit level or whether their responses would be more similar to those of gynephilic women. An implicit association task and a priming task were given to 169 women alongside measures of their self-labelled sexual orientation and an explicit measure of their sexual attraction to men and women. The results replicated previous findings of little bias towards either gender in androphilic women and of a strong bias towards females in gynephilic women. The ambiphilic women also showed a strong bias towards females. The findings clearly show that early automatic associations to sex are biased towards females in ambiphilic women and are not consistent with their explicit statements of preference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Snowden
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, Wales, UK.
| | - Nicola S Gray
- Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK
- Swansea Bay University Health Board, Bridgend, UK
| | - Katie S Uzzell
- Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK
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18
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de Oliveira L, Vignozzi L, Giraldi A, Varod S, Corona G, Reisman Y. What Women Want? The State of the Art regarding the Treatment of Young Women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Pharmacology 2023; 109:69-75. [PMID: 38151009 PMCID: PMC11006276 DOI: 10.1159/000535587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in premenopausal women involves biological, psychological, and social aspects. In the European Society for Sexual Medicine meeting in Rotterdam in February 2023, several leading experts in the field discussed the multifaceted nature of this disorder and the state of the art regarding treatment at a round table. This review reflects the information discussed at this event and further discusses current controversies. SUMMARY HSDD is the most prevalent female-estimated sexual disorder reported by 28% of the 40% premenopausal women with sexual dysfunction. Flibanserin and bremelanotide are the only approved medications to treat HSDD in the USA, and none are approved in Europe. Lybrido, Lybridos, and Lorexys are under development. There are several psychological factors with impact in sexual desire, including depression and sexual abuse. Feminine sexual scripts, the pleasure gap, and structural inequalities also affect sexual desire. Evidence strongly supports the value of combining medical and psychological approaches in the treatment of HSDD, but there is ongoing controversy regarding the pharmacological treatment of young women with HSDD. However, some women seem open and would like to have access to drug treatment. KEY MESSAGES The treatment of HSDD in young women requires a mixed treatment approach that addresses the disorder's complexity. Despite clinicians seeming to be divided between using pharmacological and/or psychosocial approaches, some women might respond better to one type of intervention over the others. This calls for the development of tools that assess the best approach for each person, including their will and informed choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonor de Oliveira
- Center for Psychology at Porto University, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Porto, Portugal,
| | - Linda Vignozzi
- Unit - Careggi Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Annamaria Giraldi
- Sexological Clinic, Mental Health Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Mental Health Services, CPH, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Shelly Varod
- Center for Sexual Health, Reuth Rehabilitation Hospital, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
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19
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Bittoni C, Kiesner J. When the brain turns on with sexual desire: fMRI findings, issues, and future directions. Sex Med Rev 2023; 11:296-311. [PMID: 37500582 DOI: 10.1093/sxmrev/qead029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION More than 2 decades of neuroimaging research has sought to uncover the neurologic basis of sexual desire. However, the lack of a clear conceptual distinction between sexual desire and sexual arousal or even a broadly accepted definition of sexual desire has led to confusion in the literature regarding brain areas uniquely associated with sexual desire. OBJECTIVES (1) To critically review the neuroimaging literature that seeks to identify brain areas and networks involved in sexual desire; (2) to identify and discuss those brain areas and potential networks that are most promising for providing insights to sexual desire; and (3) to offer recommendations for future studies. METHODS Existing meta-analyses were used as a starting point to identify relevant neuroimaging studies on sexual desire, arousal, and love. This base was then expanded via Google Scholar and forward citation tracking of already identified studies. RESULTS Brain areas that are commonly associated with sexual desire and arousal include the amygdala, hypothalamus, dorsal and ventral striatum, anterior cingulate, insula, and prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex. However, because the same basic paradigm has been used to study sexual desire and arousal, unambiguous conclusions regarding areas uniquely involved in sexual desire cannot be drawn. Moreover, the lack of connectivity analyses and a failure to acknowledge negative BOLD (blood-oxygen level dependent) significantly limit conclusions on the neural basis of sexual desire. CONCLUSION Five recommendations are made. First, stimulus types (ie, erotic vs sexually explicit) should be selected by the meaningful theoretical conceptualization of the constructs of interest. Second, participants should be provided with definitions of sexual desire, mental sexual arousal, and perceived genital sexual arousal, so they can choose which terms best describe their experience. Third, event-related designs should be used with caution when investigating sexual desire. Fourth, time series analyses should be used to identify both positive and negative BOLD. Fifth, connectivity analyses should be performed to identify brain networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Celeste Bittoni
- Department of Psychology (DPSS), University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Jeff Kiesner
- Department of Psychology (DPSS), University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
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20
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Epstein R, Wang H, Zankich VR. Is everyone a mix of straight and gay? A social pressure theory of sexual orientation, with supporting data from a large global sample. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1187377. [PMID: 37496790 PMCID: PMC10367109 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1187377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Sigmund Freud, Alfred Kinsey, E.O. Wilson, and others have suggested that social pressure suppresses natural tendencies for humans to express bisexuality, the apparent norm for one of our two closest genetic relatives, the bonobo. An analysis of data obtained from a new online sample of 1,150,938 people in 215 countries and territories (63.9% from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada) who completed the English version of a validated questionnaire of sexual orientation lends support to this idea. A histogram of scores from 0 (exclusive opposite-sex inclinations) to 18 (exclusive same-sex inclinations) forms a near-normal distribution. Although this distribution was likely caused to some extent by sampling bias, it may also reflect the unusual honesty people show when taking online tests anonymously, as an increasing body of evidence demonstrates. We present a formal mathematical expression of a social pressure theory of sexual orientation, along with empirical evidence and computational explorations that support the theory. We also present an analysis of the new data set. Among other findings: sexual orientation labels corresponded to broad, skewed, overlapping distributions of scores. Self-labeled gays/lesbians and, to a greater extent, self-labeled straights, reported that the larger the mismatch between their sexual orientation label and their actual sexual inclinations, the more distress they felt regarding their sexual orientation, a finding that is predictable from cognitive dissonance theory. Educating the public about the true nature of sexual orientation might quell the often rancorous public debates on this topic, as well as give comfort to a large number of mislabeled people.
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21
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Dewitte M, Meulders A. Fear Learning in Genital Pain: Toward a Biopsychosocial, Ecologically Valid Research and Treatment Model. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2023; 60:768-785. [PMID: 36648251 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2022.2164242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Although fear learning mechanisms are implicated in the development, maintenance, exacerbation, and reduction of genital pain, systematic research on how fear of genital pain emerges, spreads, persists, and reemerges after treatment is lacking. This paper provides an overview of the literature on pain-related fear, integrates the ideas on learning and sexual arousal responding, and specifies the pathways through which compromised learning may contribute to the development and persistence of genital pain. In order to refine theories of genital pain and optimize treatments, we need to adopt a biopsychosocial framework to pain-related fear learning and uncover potential moderators that shape individual trajectories. This involves examining the role of physiological processes, subjective experiences, as well as partner and relational cues in fear acquisition, excessive generalization and impaired safety learning, extinction of fear, counterconditioning, and return of fear. Recent methodological advances in fear conditioning and sex research are promising to enable more symptom-specific and ecologically valid experimental paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke Dewitte
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University
| | - Ann Meulders
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University
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22
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Putkinen V, Nazari-Farsani S, Karjalainen T, Santavirta S, Hudson M, Seppälä K, Sun L, Karlsson HK, Hirvonen J, Nummenmaa L. Pattern recognition reveals sex-dependent neural substrates of sexual perception. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:2543-2556. [PMID: 36773282 PMCID: PMC10028630 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Sex differences in brain activity evoked by sexual stimuli remain elusive despite robust evidence for stronger enjoyment of and interest toward sexual stimuli in men than in women. To test whether visual sexual stimuli evoke different brain activity patterns in men and women, we measured hemodynamic brain activity induced by visual sexual stimuli in two experiments with 91 subjects (46 males). In one experiment, the subjects viewed sexual and nonsexual film clips, and dynamic annotations for nudity in the clips were used to predict hemodynamic activity. In the second experiment, the subjects viewed sexual and nonsexual pictures in an event-related design. Men showed stronger activation than women in the visual and prefrontal cortices and dorsal attention network in both experiments. Furthermore, using multivariate pattern classification we could accurately predict the sex of the subject on the basis of the brain activity elicited by the sexual stimuli. The classification generalized across the experiments indicating that the sex differences were task-independent. Eye tracking data obtained from an independent sample of subjects (N = 110) showed that men looked longer than women at the chest area of the nude female actors in the film clips. These results indicate that visual sexual stimuli evoke discernible brain activity patterns in men and women which may reflect stronger attentional engagement with sexual stimuli in men.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vesa Putkinen
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Sanaz Nazari-Farsani
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Tomi Karjalainen
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Severi Santavirta
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Matthew Hudson
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Kerttu Seppälä
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Department of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Lihua Sun
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Henry K Karlsson
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Jussi Hirvonen
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Lauri Nummenmaa
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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23
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Gao Z, Luo X, Che X. Distinct Emotional and Cardiac Responses to Audio Erotica between Genders. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:bs13030273. [PMID: 36975298 PMCID: PMC10044842 DOI: 10.3390/bs13030273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Emotional and cardiac responses to audio erotica and their gender differences are relatively unclear in the study of the human sexual response. The current study was designed to investigate gender differences regarding positive and negative emotional responses to erotica, as well as its association with cardiac response. A total of 40 healthy participants (20 women) were exposed to erotic, neutral, and happy audio segments during which emotions and heart rate changes were evaluated. Our data showed distinct emotional responses to erotica between genders, in which women reported a higher level of shame than men and rated erotic audios as less pleasant than happy audios. Meanwhile, men reported erotic and happy audios as equally pleasant. These results were independent of cardiac changes, as both sexes demonstrated comparable heart rate deceleration when exposed to erotica relative to neutral and happy stimuli. Our results highlight the role of sociocultural modulation in the emotional response to erotica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhongming Gao
- Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310000, China
| | - Xi Luo
- College of Preschool and Primary Education, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637000, China
| | - Xianwei Che
- Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310000, China
- TMS Centre, Deqing Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 313200, China
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24
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Vásquez-Amézquita M, Leongómez JD, Salvador A, Seto MC. What can the eyes tell us about atypical sexual preferences as a function of sex and age? Linking eye movements with child-related chronophilias. Forensic Sci Res 2023; 8:5-15. [PMID: 37712065 PMCID: PMC10498142 DOI: 10.1093/fsr/owad009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual attention plays a central role in current theories of sexual information processing and is key to informing the use of eye-tracking techniques in the study of typical sexual preferences and more recently, in the study of atypical preferences such as pedophilia (prepubescent children) and hebephilia (pubescent children). The aim of this theoretical-empirical review is to connect the concepts of a visual attention-based model of sexual arousal processing with eye movements as indicators of atypical sexual interests, to substantiate the use of eye-tracking as a useful indirect measure of sexual preferences according to sex and age of the stimuli. Implications for research are discussed in terms of recognizing the value, scope and limitations of eye-tracking in the study of pedophilia and other chronophilias in males and females, and the generation of new hypotheses using this type of indirect measure of human sexual response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milena Vásquez-Amézquita
- Faculty of Psychology, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia
- Department of Psychobiology, Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | | | - Alicia Salvador
- Department of Psychobiology, Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Michael C Seto
- Forensic Research Unit, Royal Ottawa HealthCare Group, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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25
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Skorska MN, Yule MA, Bogaert AF, Brotto LA. Patterns of Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Cisgender Asexual Men. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2023; 60:253-270. [PMID: 35609125 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2022.2071411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Human asexuality has been defined as a lack of sexual attraction to others, although its nature is not well understood. Asexual men's genital and subjective sexual arousal patterns were compared to sexual men's to better understand asexual men's sexual response patterns. Using a penile plethysmograph to measure genital arousal, 20 asexual, 27 heterosexual, and 22 gay cisgender men (M age = 28.28, SD = 9.41) viewed erotic films depicting sexual activity or masturbation, and a subsample engaged in sexual fantasy of their choosing. Questionnaires assessing sexual function and behavior were also completed. Asexual men scored lower on sexual desire and orgasmic function, higher on sexual aversion, and did not differ on overall sexual satisfaction. Compared with gay and heterosexual men, asexual men demonstrated lower genital and subjective sexual arousal to the erotic films but displayed similar sexual arousal when engaging in sexual fantasy. Asexual men's lower levels of sexual excitation rather than their higher levels of sexual inhibition were associated with lower responses to the erotic films. These findings suggest asexual men have preferred sexual stimuli that differ from sexual men and have a similar capacity for sexual arousal as sexual men. Collectively these findings add to a growing literature aiming to understand the nature of asexuality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malvina N Skorska
- Child & Youth Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Brock University
| | | | | | - Lori A Brotto
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of British Columbia
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26
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Ziogas A, Habermeyer E, Santtila P, Poeppl TB, Mokros A. Neuroelectric Correlates of Human Sexuality: A Review and Meta-Analysis. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2023; 52:497-596. [PMID: 32016814 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-019-01547-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/04/2019] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Many reviews on sexual arousal in humans focus on different brain imaging methods and behavioral observations. Although neurotransmission in the brain is mainly performed through electrochemical signals, there are no systematic reviews of the electrophysiological correlates of sexual arousal. We performed a systematic search on this subject and reviewed 255 studies including various electrophysiological methods. Our results show how neuroelectric signals have been used to investigate genital somatotopy as well as basic genital physiology during sexual arousal and how cortical electric signals have been recorded during orgasm. Moreover, experiments on the interactions of cognition and sexual arousal in healthy subjects and in individuals with abnormal sexual preferences were analyzed as well as case studies on sexual disturbances associated with diseases of the nervous system. In addition, 25 studies focusing on brain potentials during the interaction of cognition and sexual arousal were eligible for meta-analysis. The results showed significant effect sizes for specific brain potentials during sexual stimulation (P3: Cohen's d = 1.82, N = 300, LPP: Cohen's d = 2.30, N = 510) with high heterogeneity between the combined studies. Taken together, our review shows how neuroelectric methods can consistently differentiate sexual arousal from other emotional states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasios Ziogas
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Alleestrasse 61A, 8462, Rheinau, Switzerland.
| | - Elmar Habermeyer
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Pekka Santtila
- Department of Arts & Sciences, New York University-Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Timm B Poeppl
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Andreas Mokros
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Faculty of Psychology, Fern Universität in Hagen (University of Hagen), Hagen, Germany
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Pfaus JG. Neuroelectrical Activity and Sexual Stimluation: Deconstructing a Tower of Babel. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2023; 52:603-606. [PMID: 33876301 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-02001-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 04/02/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- James G Pfaus
- Instituto de Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, 91193, Xalapa, VER, México.
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Evans L. Virtual Reality Pornography: a Review of Health-Related Opportunities and Challenges. CURRENT SEXUAL HEALTH REPORTS 2023; 15:26-35. [PMID: 36467871 PMCID: PMC9684871 DOI: 10.1007/s11930-022-00352-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Purpose of Review Virtual reality (VR) pornography is a relatively new medium for the experience of pornography. In juxtaposition with traditional modes of experiencing pornography, such as two-dimensional (2D) displays, VR promises a new experience of pornography for the user. VR can offer the feeling of 'being there': an increased sense of immersion and presence in a mediated experience thanks to the sensory affordances of the medium. In an effective VR environment, the user is immersed in the experience itself, feeling an embodied presence in the world presented to them and able to interact with the environment and others in the environment in ways that cannot be achieved in other media. In terms of pornography, this is potentially revolutionary. The user can be embodied in one of the performers and experience a unique perspective. Alternatively, there are interfaces that will allow for the performer and viewer to physically interact with one another and experience physical arousal from the actions of the other at a distance. The possibilities of VR pornography are therefore related to the intensity of experience, the changing relationship with the performers and others in pornographic media, and the possibility of new, embodied experiences of arousal utilising networked, embodied technologies. This research review assesses to what extent research on VR pornography has supported these possibilities, affordances, and developments. Recent Findings 23 articles were included in the present review. Findings demonstrate some increases in arousal and empathy in using VR pornography. However, further empirical evidence for these findings is still needed. In addition, teledildonic technology is lacking empirical research and the effects of the use of this technology in conjunction with VR requires research. Summary Collectively, the results underscore the notion that VR improves immersion and presence for subjects, and this can translate to increased sexual desire, empathy for performers in pornography, and sexual anxiety in watching pornography. This is a field in infancy, and the initial results of empirical work suggest that VR can intensify some key aspects of the experience of pornography. Theoretical reflections on VR pornography indicate many areas that require further empirical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leighton Evans
- grid.4827.90000 0001 0658 8800Department of Media and Communication, Digital Technium Building, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP Wales UK
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29
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Sjoberg EA, Wilner RG, D'Souza A, Cole GG. The Stroop Task Sex Difference: Evolved Inhibition or Color Naming? ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2023; 52:315-323. [PMID: 36261735 PMCID: PMC9859918 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-022-02439-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2020] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Previous research shows that women outperform men in the classic Stroop task, but it is not known why this difference occurs. There are currently two main hypotheses: (1) women have enhanced verbal abilities, and (2) women show greater inhibition. In two Stroop experiments, we examined the Inhibition hypothesis by adopting a procedure, often used in visual cognition paradigms, that induces a particular inhibitory component. So-called Negative Priming occurs when a distracting non-target stimulus on one trial becomes the target on the following trial. Results from our experiments showed that the degree to which this type of inhibition occurs within the Stroop effect is no different for men and women. This was the case irrespective of whether participants made a vocal response (Experiment 1; n = 64, 32 men and 32 women) or a manual response (Experiment 2; n = 64, 32 men and 32 women). These results do not therefore support the Inhibition hypothesis. We additionally review findings from a range of paradigms that can be seen as indexing the different components required for the Stroop task (e.g., distractor suppression). This review suggests that the sex effect is due to superior color naming ability in women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Espen A Sjoberg
- School of Health Sciences, Kristiania University College, Prinsens gate 7-9, 0152, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Raquel G Wilner
- Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Antonia D'Souza
- Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Geoff G Cole
- Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
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30
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In the Heat of the Short-Term Moment: Evidence that Heightened Sexual Arousal Increases Short-Term Mating Motivation Among Men. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-022-00347-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIndividual differences in men’s short-term mating interest are well studied, both at state and trait levels. Yet, the role of sexual arousal as a source of intra-individual variation has been neglected. This research represents the first attempt to integrate sexual arousal into the human mate plasticity literature. We argue that sexual arousal directly impacts the short-term mating motivation among men regardless of their personality, relationship status, and sociosexuality. Across four experiments, we found that heightened sexual arousal consistently increased men’s short-term mating motivation relative to participants in neutral and arousing control groups. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that sexual arousal increased participants’ general short-term mating motivation and their preference for a short-term relationship over a long-term one. Experiment 3 replicated the findings of the first two experiments whilst also demonstrating that this effect was not moderated by personality (i.e., Dark Triad, Big Five) or relationship status. Heightened sexual arousal also led to decreased “state” long-term mating motivation. Finally, Experiment 4 showed that sexual arousal increased the participants’ preference for a short-term relationship over a long-term one, an effect that was not moderated by sociosexuality. Together, the results suggest that sexual arousal has a powerful effect on men’s short-term mating motivation, and that this effect is independent of intrasexual differences in personality, relationship status, and sociosexuality.
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Handy AB, McMahon LN, Meston CM. Local Responses to Genital Arousal — Mechanisms of Lubrication. CURRENT SEXUAL HEALTH REPORTS 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11930-022-00350-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Schippers EE, Smid WJ, Both S, Smit JH. Excitation Transfer Between Sexual Arousal and Other Emotions in a Community Sample. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:3905-3918. [PMID: 35471677 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-02235-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Excitation transfer, the transfer of arousal from one emotion to another, might be a mechanism in the development of unusual sexual interests. In this pilot study, we investigated whether we could induce excitation transfer between various emotions and sexual arousal in a laboratory setting with 30 male volunteers. We induced low-level sexual arousal in four different emotional states (aggression/dominance, endearment, fear, disgust) and a neutral state. Sexual arousal was measured using penile plethysmography and self-report. Although there was no mean group effect, possibly due to large interindividual variations, 60% of the subjects showed more sexual arousal in response to sexual stimulation in at least one of the emotional states than in the neutral state. Excitation transfer was most prominent with aggression/dominance and least prominent with disgust. Genital excitation transfer was strongly related to lower penile reactivity and to higher self-reported erotophilia. This pilot study paves the way for further research into excitation transfer as a mechanism to increase the salience of stimuli that otherwise would not have been sexual in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eveline E Schippers
- Forensic Care Specialists, Oudlaan 9, 3515 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
- Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Section Forensic Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Wineke J Smid
- Forensic Care Specialists, Oudlaan 9, 3515 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Stephanie Both
- Department of Psychosomatic Gynaecology and Sexology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Johannes H Smit
- Department of Research and Innovation, GGZ INGEEST Specialized Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam Public Health, Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Meyers M, Margraf J, Velten J. A Qualitative Study of Women's Experiences with Cognitive-Behavioral and Mindfulness-Based Online Interventions for Low Sexual Desire. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2022; 59:1082-1091. [PMID: 35435791 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2022.2056565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive-behavioral (CBT) and mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) are among the most researched types of psychological interventions for low sexual desire in women. While both have been found effective in improving women's sexual desire, little is known about how women personally experience these treatments. To closely examine both approaches from a participant's perspective, semi-structured telephone-based interviews were conducted with 51 cis-women (Mage = 39, SD = 11, range = 22 to 69) who participated in a randomized controlled study comparing internet-based CBT and MBT for low sexual desire with a waitlist. Interview data were analyzed using thematic and content analysis. Most women (n = 44, 86.3%) evaluated their respective treatment (i.e., CBT or MBT) as helpful in improving their sexual desire. CBT-techniques, such as cognitive restructuring, were mentioned as being helpful for challenging maladaptive thinking patterns, while formal mindfulness-exercises allowed women to disengage from negative sexuality-related thoughts. Elements of sex therapy, including self-stimulation exercises and sensate focus, were perceived as crucial for getting women in touch with their sexual desires and preferences. Strengths of the online format included anonymity, flexibility, and convenient access. Overall, women's personal accounts supported feasibility, acceptability, and clinical usefulness of CBT- and MBT-based internet interventions targeting low sexual desire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milena Meyers
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum
| | - Jürgen Margraf
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum
| | - Julia Velten
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum
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van Tuijl P, Verboon P, van Lankveld J. The Relation of Mood and Sexual Desire: An Experience Sampling Perspective on the Dual Control Model. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:3871-3886. [PMID: 35896937 PMCID: PMC9663403 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-022-02357-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We investigated the effect of fluctuations in negative and positive affect on momentary sexual motivation in a sample of women and men in a steady relationship (n = 133). Sexual motivation was regarded as the aggregate of sexual desire, subjective sexual arousal and openness to sexual contact. Experience sampling methodology was used to collect up to 70 measurements per participant over a period of seven consecutive days of sexual motivation, and negative and positive affect. Using multilevel analysis, we investigated cross-level interactions between affect and trait measures as specified in the dual control model (DCM). This model postulates sexually excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms as relatively independent systems that together can explain individual differences in sexual motivation and behavior. Results implicated that any intensification of feelings, positive or negative, was associated with a momentary increase in sexual motivation for participants more prone to sexual excitation. In the lagged analysis, higher preceding negative affect, measured 1-2 h earlier, forecasted an increase in current sexual motivation for participants more prone to sexual excitation. The lagged analysis included the autoregressive effect or inertia of sexual motivation. Inertia reflects the extent to which sexual motivation lingers and persists at similar levels. Our findings showed that sexual motivation levels persisted less in individuals with higher sexual inhibition proneness due to threat of performance failure. This study demonstrated how experience sampling methodology can be used to extend research on associations between mood and sexual motivation and implicates that DCM factors moderate these associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piet van Tuijl
- Department of Psychology, Open Universiteit, 6419, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
- , Egelantierstraat 138, 3551GG, Utrecht, Netherlands.
| | - Peter Verboon
- Department of Psychology, Open Universiteit, 6419, Heerlen, The Netherlands
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Lakhsassi L, Borg C, Martusewicz S, van der Ploeg K, de Jong PJ. The influence of sexual arousal on subjective pain intensity during a cold pressor test in women. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274331. [PMID: 36197910 PMCID: PMC9534408 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Pain can be significantly lessened by sex/orgasm, likely due to the release of endorphins during sex, considered potent analgesics. The evidence suggests that endorphins are also present during sexual arousal (that is, prior to sex/orgasm). It follows then that pain can be modulated during sexual arousal, independent of sex/orgasm, too. Accordingly, sexual arousal induced by erotic slides has been demonstrated to lessen pain in men, but not in women. One explanation could be that for women, the erotic slides were not potent enough to elicit a lasting primed state of sexual arousal by the time pain was induced. Thus, the current study aims to optimize the means of inducing a potent state of sexual arousal and subsequently examine the potentially analgesic influence of sexual arousal on pain in women. As a subsidiary aim, the study also assesses whether the anticipated analgesic effect of sexual arousal would be stronger than that of distraction or generalized (non-sexual) arousal. METHODS Female participants (N = 151) were randomly distributed across four conditions: sexual arousal, generalized arousal, distraction, neutral. Mild pain was induced using a cold pressor while participants were concurrently exposed to film stimuli (pornographic, exciting, distracting, neutral) to induce the targeted emotional states. A visual analogue scale was utilized to measure the subjective level of pain perceived by the participants. RESULTS Sexual arousal did not reduce subjective pain. Generalized arousal and distraction did not result in stronger analgesic effects than the neutral condition. CONCLUSION The present findings do not support the hypothesis that sexual arousal alone modulates subjective pain in women. This might be due to the possibility that genital stimulation and/or orgasm are key in pain reduction, or, that feelings of disgust may inadvertently have been induced by the pornographic stimulus and interfered with sexual arousal in influencing pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Lakhsassi
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Charmaine Borg
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sophie Martusewicz
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Peter J. de Jong
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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36
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Reynolds TA. Our Grandmothers' Legacy: Challenges Faced by Female Ancestors Leave Traces in Modern Women's Same-Sex Relationships. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:3225-3256. [PMID: 33398709 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-020-01768-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Revised: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Investigations of women's same-sex relationships present a paradoxical pattern, with women generally disliking competition, yet also exhibiting signs of intrasexual rivalry. The current article leverages the historical challenges faced by female ancestors to understand modern women's same-sex relationships. Across history, women were largely denied independent access to resources, often depending on male partners' provisioning to support themselves and their children. Same-sex peers thus became women's primary romantic rivals in competing to attract and retain relationships with the limited partners able and willing to invest. Modern women show signs of this competition, disliking and aggressing against those who threaten their romantic prospects, targeting especially physically attractive and sexually uninhibited peers. However, women also rely on one another for aid, information, and support. As most social groups were patrilocal across history, upon marriage, women left their families to reside with their husbands. Female ancestors likely used reciprocal altruism or mutualism to facilitate cooperative relationships with nearby unrelated women. To sustain these mutually beneficial cooperative exchange relationships, women may avoid competitive and status-striving peers, instead preferring kind, humble, and loyal allies. Ancestral women who managed to simultaneously compete for romantic partners while forming cooperative female friendships would have been especially successful. Women may therefore have developed strategies to achieve both competitive and cooperative goals, such as guising their intrasexual competition as prosociality or vulnerability. These historical challenges make sense of the seemingly paradoxical pattern of female aversion to competition, relational aggression, and valuation of loyal friends, offering insight into possible opportunities for intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania A Reynolds
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Logan Hall, MSC03-2220, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001, USA.
- The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA.
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37
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Lenschow C, Mendes ARP, Lima SQ. Hearing, touching, and multisensory integration during mate choice. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:943888. [PMID: 36247731 PMCID: PMC9559228 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.943888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Mate choice is a potent generator of diversity and a fundamental pillar for sexual selection and evolution. Mate choice is a multistage affair, where complex sensory information and elaborate actions are used to identify, scrutinize, and evaluate potential mating partners. While widely accepted that communication during mate assessment relies on multimodal cues, most studies investigating the mechanisms controlling this fundamental behavior have restricted their focus to the dominant sensory modality used by the species under examination, such as vision in humans and smell in rodents. However, despite their undeniable importance for the initial recognition, attraction, and approach towards a potential mate, other modalities gain relevance as the interaction progresses, amongst which are touch and audition. In this review, we will: (1) focus on recent findings of how touch and audition can contribute to the evaluation and choice of mating partners, and (2) outline our current knowledge regarding the neuronal circuits processing touch and audition (amongst others) in the context of mate choice and ask (3) how these neural circuits are connected to areas that have been studied in the light of multisensory integration.
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38
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Pfaus JG. Politics of Sexual Desire. CURRENT SEXUAL HEALTH REPORTS 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11930-022-00335-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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39
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Klein S, Krikova K, Antons S, Brand M, Klucken T, Stark R. Reward Responsiveness, Learning, and Valuation Implicated in Problematic Pornography Use — a Research Domain Criteria Perspective. CURRENT ADDICTION REPORTS 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s40429-022-00423-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Purpose of Review
Problematic pornography use (PPU) describes a pattern of behavior characterized by excessive time spent using or thinking about pornography and continued use despite negative consequences. To help advance the understanding of transdiagnostic underlying psychological and neurobiological mechanisms in PPU, we aim to review existing evidence on these mechanisms focusing on positive valence systems within the transdiagnostic Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework.
Recent Findings
Reward anticipation processes seem to be increased in individuals with PPU symptoms when they anticipate sexual stimuli compared with other rewards. Studies further suggest that the initial neural and attentional responses to sexual rewards compared with different control stimuli are also increased in individuals with PPU symptoms, as are conditioned responses in sexual reward learning paradigms. Sexual reward valuation studies point towards an increased neural value differentiation with increasing PPU symptoms.
Summary
The current state of evidence indicates that positive valence systems are altered in persons with PPU. This framework of organizing evidence may aid in elucidating PPU development and maintenance as well as planning future studies.
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Price AA, Busby DM, Leavitt CE. The Need for Sexual Wholeness: Linking Self-Determination Theory to the Physical, Emotional, and Meaning Aspects of Sex. JOURNAL OF SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 2022; 49:229-241. [PMID: 35796519 DOI: 10.1080/0092623x.2022.2094304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Sexuality is a highly complex aspect of a human's existence with several elements contributing to a quality sexual relationship. This study examined a broad scope of sexuality encompassing physical, emotional, and meaning aspects of sex, or sexual wholeness. Sexual wholeness is grounded in the idea that a self-determined sexual relationship in which three innate human needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) are met is more likely to promote sexual well-being. Using a sample of 884 adults in long-term relationships, we used structural equation modeling to estimate the association between each of the three self-determination theory (SDT) needs and the physical, emotional, and meaning aspects of sex. We found that overall, greater SDT needs satisfaction predicted sexual wholeness, though some needs held more bearing than others and the associations with components of sexual wholeness varied. For women, the physical aspect of sex was predicted by autonomy (predicted comfort) and competence (predicted sexual knowledge) but for the physical aspects of sex for men, no significant associations were found. The emotional aspect of sex was associated with all three SDT needs for both men and women and sexual meaning was associated with competence and relatedness for both men and women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber A Price
- The School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
| | - Dean M Busby
- The School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
| | - Chelom E Leavitt
- The School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
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Bhat GS, Shastry A. Validation of holding time, a novel tool to assess control over ejaculation in males: A pilot study. Andrologia 2022; 54:e14509. [PMID: 35746895 DOI: 10.1111/and.14509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Premature ejaculation (PE) is considered as a disorder of perceived loss of ejaculatory control. However, we cannot objectively estimate ejaculatory control due to the absence of an objective tool to measure it. Hence, we designed a pilot study to validate holding time (HoT), a novel objective tool, hypothesized by us, to measure ejaculatory control in men. The construct validity of this tool to differentiate premature ejaculators from normal ejaculators was also assessed in our sample. The study sample had 10 healthy, sexually active normal ejaculators, and 10 premature ejaculators, who volunteered to participate in the study conducted from May 2020 to April 2021. The mean HoT in normal ejaculators was 120.2 ± 31.7 s and the same in premature ejaculators was 32.9 ± 12.9 s. Both the normal (r = 0.983) as well as premature ejaculators (r = 0.839) had good test-retest reliability. The construct validity of HoT to diagnose PE was good with 90% sensitivity, 91% specificity, 63.8% positive predictive value, and 98.1% negative predictive value to diagnose PE when compared with diagnosis by a standard tool. It could be concluded that HoT successfully measured ejaculatory control in men and differentiated normal ejaculators from the premature ejaculators in the sample studied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gajanan S Bhat
- Department of Urology, Andrology and Sexual Medicine, TSS Shripad Hegde Kadave Institute of Medical Sciences, Sirsi, Karnataka, India
| | - Anuradha Shastry
- Department of Urology and Sexual Medicine, TSS Shripad Hegde Kadave Institute of Medical Sciences, Sirsi, Karnataka, India
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Intense positive affect without arousal is possible: Subjective and physiological reactivity during a partnered sexual meditative experience. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 178:99-107. [PMID: 35750269 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Though common models suggest that affect intensity can be thought of as orthogonal to arousal, examples of intensely pleasant low arousal stimuli remain rare. To support this orthogonal model, we examined whether a specific meditative sexual practice, Orgasmic Meditation (OM), induces such a state. Thus, this study measured changes in subjective affect as well as skin conductance responses (SCR), as a proxy for physiological arousal associated with sympathetic nervous system activity, during a single 15-minute partnered sexual meditative practice (Orgasmic Meditation; OM) in 93 participants. Almost all participants experienced sustained positive affect during the task. Whereas seconds after OM start approximately half the participants experienced sustained increased SCR, the other half experienced sustained decreased SCR. . This observation suggests that the experience of sustained positive affect in intimate interactions may be associated with multiple mechanistic profiles including both decreased and increased arousal.
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Gangestad SW, Dinh T. Women's Estrus and Extended Sexuality: Reflections on Empirical Patterns and Fundamental Theoretical Issues. Front Psychol 2022; 13:900737. [PMID: 35795438 PMCID: PMC9251465 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.900737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
How do women's sexual interests change across their ovulatory cycles? This question is one of the most enduring within the human evolutionary behavioral sciences. Yet definitive, agreed-upon answers remain elusive. One empirical pattern appears to be robust: Women experience greater levels of sexual desire and interest when conceptive during their cycles. But this pattern is not straightforward or self-explanatory. We lay out multiple possible, broad explanations for it. Based on selectionist reasoning, we argue that the conditions that give rise to sexual interests during conceptive and non-conceptive phases are likely to differ. Because conceptive and non-conceptive sex have distinct functions, the sexual interests during conceptive and non-conceptive phases are likely to have different strategic ends. We discuss provisional evidence consistent with this perspective. But the exact nature of women's dual sexuality, if it exists, remains unclear. Additional empirical research is needed. But perhaps more crucially, this topic demands additional theory that fruitfully guides and interprets future empirical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven W. Gangestad
- Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
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Álvarez-Muelas A, Sierra JC, Gómez-Berrocal C, Arcos-Romero AI, Calvillo C, Granados R. Study of Sexual Concordance in Men and Women with Different Typologies of Adherence to the Sexual Double Standard. Int J Clin Health Psychol 2022; 22:100297. [PMID: 35281774 PMCID: PMC8873603 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2022.100297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background/Objective Sexual concordance (i.e., relationship between genital response and subjective sexual arousal) is higher in men than in women. Among the factors that could explain this difference would be the sexual double standard (SDS). Sexual concordance is examined by SDS typologies of adherence (egalitarian, man-favorable, and woman-favorable). Method During exposure to a film with sexual content, genital response (penile circumference/vaginal pulse amplitude) and self-reported sexual arousal were recorded in 104 young adults (42 men and 62 women), distributed into SDS typologies of adherence on the basis of their scores on the Sexual Double Standard Scale. Results Sexual concordance was obtained in men and women with egalitarian and man-favorable typology. Subjective sexual arousal explained a significant percentage of the variance in genital response in the egalitarian typology (men: R2 = .32, p < .01; women: R2 = .19, p < .05) and man-favorable typology (men: R2 = .21, p < .05; women: R2 = .23, p < .05). Conclusions Agreement between genital responsiveness and subjective sexual arousal depends on DES adherence typology.
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Abstract
The chemical composition of exhaled breath was examined for volatile organic compound (VOC) indicators of sexual arousal in human beings. Participants (12-male, 12-female) were shown a randomized series of three emotion-inducing 10-min film clips interspersed with 3-min neutral film clips. The films caused different arousals: sports film (positive-nonsexual); horror film (negative-nonsexual); and erotic (sexual) that were monitored with physiological measurements including genital response and temperature. Simultaneously the breath was monitored for VOC and CO2. While some breath compounds (methanol and acetone) changed uniformly irrespective of the film order, several compounds did show significant arousal associated changes. For both genders CO2 and isoprene decreased in the sex clip. Some male individuals showed particularly strong increases of indole, phenol and cresol coincident with sexual arousal that decreased rapidly afterwards. These VOCs are degradation products of tyrosine and tryptophan, precursors for dopamine, noradrenalin, and serotonin, and therefore represent potential breath markers of sexual arousal.
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Szczuka JM. Flirting With or Through Media: How the Communication Partners' Ontological Class and Sexual Priming Affect Heterosexual Males' Interest in Flirtatious Messages and Their Perception of the Source. Front Psychol 2022; 13:719008. [PMID: 35273536 PMCID: PMC8902147 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.719008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Because technologies are frequently used for sexual gratification it seems plausible that artificial communication partners, such as voice assistants, could be used to fulfill sexual needs. While the idea of sexualized interaction with voice assistants has been portrayed in movies (e.g., "Her"), there is a lack of empirical research on the effect of the ontological class (human versus artificial) on the voice's potential to evoke interest in a sexualized interaction and its perception in terms of sexual attractiveness. The Sexual Interaction Illusion Model (SIIM), which emphasizes influences on sensations evoked by artificial interaction partners, furthermore suggests that there may be contextual influences, especially sexual arousal, that may be crucial for the question of engaging in a sexualized interaction with an artificial entity. To empirically investigate whether the ontological class of the speaker (computer-mediated human in comparison to voice assistants) and the level of sexual arousal affects the heterosexual males' interest in hearing more flirtatious messages and the perception of the communication partner's sexual attractiveness, an online experiment with between subject design was conducted. Two hundred and fifty seven respondents were confronted with at least four, and voluntarily six messages from either a computer-mediated human or a flirtatious voice assistant, in interaction with being previously primed sexually or neutrally. The results demonstrated that the effect of sexual arousal was not prevailing on the interest in further messages and the attractiveness perception of the interaction partners, while the ontological class did so. Here, the voice assistant evoked more interest in further messages and the technology itself, while the computer mediated human was perceived to be more sexually attractive and flirtatious, and evoked more social presence. The communication partners social presence was shown to be the predictor with most explanatory power for the interaction partners perceived sexual attractiveness, regardless of whether it was human or artificial. The results underline differences between artificial and human interaction partners, but also underline that especially social presence and the feeling that the user is addressed (in terms of flirtatiousness) is crucial in digitalized intimacy regardless of the ontological class.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica M Szczuka
- Social Psychology: Media and Communication, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
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Chivers ML. Prepared for Pleasure? An Alternative Perspective on the Preparation Hypothesis. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:729-735. [PMID: 33037567 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-020-01841-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Meredith L Chivers
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, 218 Craine Hall, 62 Arch Street, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
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Lalumière ML, Sawatsky ML, Dawson SJ, Suschinsky KD. The Empirical Status of the Preparation Hypothesis: Explicating Women's Genital Responses to Sexual Stimuli in the Laboratory. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:709-728. [PMID: 32026221 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-019-01599-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Research conducted in our laboratory and in other laboratories has revealed that (1) women's genital responses to visual and auditory stimuli are strongly affected by the presence of sexual cues, but that (2) specific sexual cues (e.g., gender of actors, the presence of sexual violence) often have little impact on the magnitude of the responses-that is, similar genital responses are observed to very different sexual stimuli. In addition, (3) women's genital responses do not strongly correspond with self-reported sexual partner and activity preferences, or (4) with self-reported sexual arousal during the presentation of sexual stimuli. Taken together, these facts represent a puzzle, especially considering that men's genital responses are highly affected by specific sexual cues and strongly correspond to stated preferences and self-reported sexual arousal. One hypothesis to explain female low cue-specificity and low concordance (relative to men) is the preparation hypothesis: Women's indiscriminate genital responses serve a protective function. That is, they do not indicate or necessarily promote sexual interest and motivation, but rather prepare the vaginal lumen for possible sexual activity and therefore prevent injuries that may occur as a result of penetration. We review evidence for and against this hypothesis. We conclude that the evidence is favorable but not entirely convincing, and more work is required to reach a firm conclusion. We offer directions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin L Lalumière
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
- The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
| | - Megan L Sawatsky
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Samantha J Dawson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Kelly D Suschinsky
- Substance Abuse and Concurrent Disorders Program, The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Dewitte M. Female Genital Arousal: A Focus on How Rather than Why. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:743-749. [PMID: 32671500 PMCID: PMC8888380 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-020-01792-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Marieke Dewitte
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel, 40, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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Gormezano AM, Harris EA, Gauvin SEM, Pinto J, van Anders G, van Anders SM. Sexual Orientation Across Porn Use, Sexual Fantasy, and In-Person Sexuality: Visualizing Branchedness and Coincidence via Sexual Configurations Theory. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:1201-1219. [PMID: 35112269 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-02202-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Sexual orientation describes sexual interests, approaches, arousals, and attractions. People experience these interests and attractions in a number of contexts, including in-person sexuality, fantasy, and porn use, among others. The extent to which sexual orientation is divergent (branched) and/or overlapping (coincident) across these, however, is unclear. In the present study, a gender/sex and sexually diverse sample (N = 30; 15 gender/sex/ual minorities and 15 majorities) manipulated digital circles representing porn use, in-person sexuality, and fantasy on a tablet during in-person interviews. Participants used circle overlap to represent the degree of shared sexual interests across contexts and circle size to indicate the strength and/or number of sexual interests within contexts. Across multiple dimensions of sexual orientation (gender/sex, partner number, and action/behavior), we found evidence that sexual interests were both branched and coincident. These findings contribute to new understandings about the multifaceted nature of sexual orientations across contexts and provide a novel way to measure, conceptualize, and understand sexual orientation in context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aki M Gormezano
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Emily A Harris
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
| | | | - Jude Pinto
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Greg van Anders
- Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada
| | - Sari M van Anders
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
- Department of Gender Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
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