Sex differences in viewing sexual stimuli: an eye-tracking study in men and women

Auditory Cues Alter the Magnitude and Valence of Subjective Sexual Arousal and Desire Induced by an Erotic Video

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.

Implicit Sexual Cognitions in Women with Ambiphilic Sexual Attractions: A Comparison to Androphilic and Gynephilic Women

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.

The Role of Attractiveness in Gendered Sexual Response Patterns

Previously documented sexual response patterns of gender-specificity among gynephilic men and gender-nonspecificity among gynephilic women could be explained by women responding more strongly to non-gendered aspects of sexual stimuli. Cues of attractiveness are known determinants of sexual decision-making, yet have not been directly tested as determinants of sexual response. The current study investigated the role of attractiveness cues in explaining gender-based patterns of sexual response. Thirty-one gynephilic men and 60 androphilic women were presented slideshows of images depicting individual nude men and women that were pre-rated in a pilot study as either attractive or unattractive. The men and women were posed with legs spread and aroused genitals displayed prominently. Images were isolated against a white background and included minimal contextual information. Three sexual responses - genital arousal (via photoplethysmographs), self-reported arousal, and visual attention (via eye-tracking) - were recorded continuously. Across all three response modalities, men's and women's responses were stronger for the attractive versus unattractive images and for their preferred versus non-preferred gender. For men's arousal and women's self-reported arousal, the effect of attractiveness was stronger for their preferred versus non-preferred gender. Thus, both men and women demonstrated preference-specific patterns of sexual response. Gender cues had the strongest effect on men's visual attention, whereas attractiveness cues had the strongest effect on women's visual attention. Findings establish the importance of target attractiveness in arousal to sexual stimuli and add to mounting evidence that androphilic women's sexual responses are sensitive to gender, but may be more sensitive to non-gendered features of sexual stimuli.

Sex Differences in Attention and Attitude Toward Infant and Sexual Images

Reproduction in mammals includes two general categories of behaviors: mating and parenting. Historically and cross-culturally, men invest more than women in mating; women invest more than men in parenting. Sex differences in attention and attitude toward mating and parenting stimuli have rarely been assessed together despite theoretical interest. To evaluate these differences simultaneously in a naturalistic setting, 582 study participants (459 women, 123 men) were presented with sexual and infant images, online in the privacy of their home, at three time periods spanning several weeks for a more reliable result. Attention was measured by covertly recording viewing time of images using Qualtrics software, and attitude was measured via self-report after each viewing session. Men reported a more positive attitude than women toward the sexual images; women reported a more positive attitude than men toward the infant images. Women viewed the infant images marginally longer than did men, and the infant-to-sexual viewing ratio was larger for women. The sexual-to-infant viewing ratio was larger for men than for women. Unexpectedly, both genders viewed the sexual images longer than the infant images, with no significant gender difference in the sexual image viewing time. The results suggest that women and men may give equal attention to visual sexual stimuli despite self-reported sex differences in interest. The possibly underestimated valence of visual sexual stimuli for women is discussed.

Examining Attentional Biases Elicited by Sexual Stimuli Using MouseView.js: An Online Paradigm to Mimic Eye Movements

Attention is a key mechanism underlying many aspects of sexuality, with eye-tracking studies revealing that attention is both sustained by sexual stimuli and corresponds with sexual interest. Despite its utility, eye-tracking experiments typically require specialized equipment and are conducted in a laboratory setting. The overarching objective of this research was to assess the utility of a novel online method, MouseView.js, for assessing attentional processing of sexual stimuli outside of a laboratory context. MouseView.js is an open-source, web-based application where the display is blurred to mimic peripheral vision and an aperture is directed using a mouse cursor to fixate on regions of interest within the display. Using a discovery (Study 1, n = 239) and replication (Study 2, n = 483) design, we examined attentional biases to sexual stimuli among two diverse samples with respect to gender/sex and sexual orientation. Results revealed strong attentional biases toward processing sexual stimuli relative to nonsexual stimuli, as well as dwell times that correlated with self-report sexuality measures. Results mirror those observed for laboratory-based eye-tracking research, but using a freely available instrument that mirrors gaze tracking. MouseView.js offers important advantages to traditional eye-tracking methods, including the ability to recruit larger and more diverse samples, and minimizes volunteer biases.

Pattern recognition reveals sex-dependent neural substrates of sexual perception

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.

What can the eyes tell us about atypical sexual preferences as a function of sex and age? Linking eye movements with child-related chronophilias

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.

Reporting Eye-tracking Studies In DEntistry (RESIDE) checklist

OBJECTIVES

To (i) provide a scoping review of eye-tracking studies in dentistry, and (ii) propose a "Reporting Eye-tracking Studies in DEntistry" (RESIDE) checklist to facilitate standard reporting of eye-tracking studies.

DATA

A comprehensive search of six distinct electronic databases was undertaken.

SOURCES

Pubmed, OVID, Wed of Knowledge, Scopus, Cochrane and Google Scholar were used to identify studies that employed eye-tracking technology and dentistry as a subfield STUDY SELECTION: 42 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies exhibited several inconsistencies or failed to report on the appropriate items in the RESIDE checklist. These essential components include ethical approval, sample size calculation, location and setting, eye-tracking device attributes, participant calibration, sequence of events, and eye-tracking metrics (quantitative, qualitative and data details).

CONCLUSIONS

Evaluation of the published eye-tracking studies in this scoping review provides empirical data, highlighting the inconsistencies and limitations. Importantly, it illustrates the applicability of the RESIDE Checklist, which provides a comprehensive list of reporting elements to assist authors and reviewers of eye-tracking studies in dentistry. Also, RESIDE provides a framework to overcome critical issues to ensure high-quality scientific publications.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

A minimum threshold should be applied before accepting eye-tracking studies for publication in the future. RESIDE checklist promotes transparent and reproducible scientific communication about eye-tracking applications to dentistry. In addition, it provides a comprehensive list of reporting elements to assist authors and reviewers in ensuring high-quality scientific publications.

Adverse childhood experiences and hormonal contraception: Interactive impact on sexual reward function

The current literature suggests that some women are uniquely vulnerable to negative effects of hormonal contraception (HC) on affective processes. However, little data exists as to which factors contribute to such vulnerability. The present study evaluated the impact of prepubertal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on reward processing in women taking HC (N = 541) compared to naturally cycling women (N = 488). Participants completed an online survey assessing current and past HC use and exposure to 10 different adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) before puberty (ACE Questionnaire), with participants categorized into groups of low (0-1) versus high (≥2) prepubertal ACE exposure. Participants then completed a reward task rating their expected and experienced valence for images that were either erotic, pleasant (non-erotic), or neutral. Significant interactions emerged between prepubertal ACE exposure and HC use on expected (p = 0.028) and experienced (p = 0.025) valence ratings of erotic images but not pleasant or neutral images. Importantly, follow-up analyses considering whether women experienced HC-induced decreases in sexual desire informed the significant interaction for expected valence ratings of erotic images. For current HC users, prepubertal ACEs interacted with HC-induced decreased sexual desire (p = 0.008), such that high ACE women reporting decreased sexual desire on HC showed substantially decreased ratings for anticipated erotic images compared to both high prepubertal ACE women without decreased sexual desire (p < 0.001) and low prepubertal ACE women also reporting decreased sexual desire (p = 0.010). The interaction was not significant in naturally cycling women reporting previous HC use, suggesting that current HC use could be impacting anticipatory reward processing of sexual stimuli among certain women (e.g., high prepubertal ACE women reporting HC-induced decreases in sexual desire). The study provides rationale for future randomized, controlled trials to account for prepubertal ACE exposure to promote contraceptive selection informed by behavioral evidence.

Eye tracking: empirical foundations for a minimal reporting guideline

In this paper, we present a review of how the various aspects of any study using an eye tracker (such as the instrument, methodology, environment, participant, etc.) affect the quality of the recorded eye-tracking data and the obtained eye-movement and gaze measures. We take this review to represent the empirical foundation for reporting guidelines of any study involving an eye tracker. We compare this empirical foundation to five existing reporting guidelines and to a database of 207 published eye-tracking studies. We find that reporting guidelines vary substantially and do not match with actual reporting practices. We end by deriving a minimal, flexible reporting guideline based on empirical research (Section "An empirically based minimal reporting guideline").

Rethinking minority stress: A social safety perspective on the health effects of stigma in sexually-diverse and gender-diverse populations

For over two decades, the minority stress model has guided research on the health of sexually-diverse individuals (those who are not exclusively heterosexual) and gender-diverse individuals (those whose gender identity/expression differs from their birth-assigned sex/gender). According to this model, the cumulative stress caused by stigma and social marginalization fosters stress-related health problems. Yet studies linking minority stress to physical health outcomes have yielded mixed results, suggesting that something is missing from our understanding of stigma and health. Social safety may be the missing piece. Social safety refers to reliable social connection, inclusion, and protection, which are core human needs that are imperiled by stigma. The absence of social safety is just as health-consequential for stigmatized individuals as the presence of minority stress, because the chronic threat-vigilance fostered by insufficient safety has negative long-term effects on cognitive, emotional, and immunological functioning, even when exposure to minority stress is low. We argue that insufficient social safety is a primary cause of stigma-related health disparities and a key target for intervention.

In Search of the Most Attractive Lip-Proportions and Lip-Volume -An Eye Tracking- and Survey-based Investigation

BACKGROUND

Despite various aesthetic trends, the ideal lip proportion and lip volume still remains elusive. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the aesthetic perception of various lip shapes to identify the most attractive lips.

METHODS

59 Caucasian study participants with a mean age of 32.73 (9.4) years were asked to assess lips of various proportions and of various volumes. Gaze assessment and aesthetic rating of the same set of modified lip images were performed.

RESULTS

The results revealed that the lip proportion which was rated to be most attractive was the 1:1.6 ratio (upper:lower lip, 4.21 out of a possible 5). This lip proportion, however, was not the first one to be viewed upon initial image display (1.20 sec) and had the shortest duration of a stable eye fixation within the 6 sec image display interval (2.18 out of 6 sec). The lip volume which received the highest aesthetic rating was the 100% volume (original lip size) with 4.56 out of a possible 5. This lip volume however, had the third longest interval between initial image exposure and the first stable eye fixation (0.81 sec) and had the shortest duration of stable eye fixations during the 6 sec of image display (2.22 out of 6 sec).

CONCLUSION

The results presented could be potentially reflective of the internal cognitive processes during the involuntary and voluntary assessment of lip attractiveness.

CAPSULE SUMMARY

The results revealed that the lip proportion and lip volume which was rated to be most attractive was the 1:1.6 ratio and the non-augmented, natural volume. Eye tracking showed that attractive lips captured the observer's attention less quickly and were viewed for a shorter time.

Gynephilic Men's and Androphilic Women's Visual Attention Patterns: The Effects of Gender and Sexual Activity Cues

Men and women differ in the degree of specificity of sexual response and differences in attention to sexual cues may be a mechanism underlying these gendered patterns. The majority of previous research has examined attention using static images, which differ considerably from the dynamic videos used in studies of sexual response. To test attention as a potential mechanism involved in gendered sexual response, we used eye-tracking to examine visual attention patterns of 33 gynephilic men and 36 androphilic women to videos depicting preferred and nonpreferred gender targets engaging in varying sexual activities. Specificity of controlled attention was gendered, and this effect differed depending on the intensity of sexual activity cues depicted. Regardless of sexual activity cues, men's controlled attention was gender-specific toward preferred targets. Sexual activity cues did, however, impact the degree to which women's controlled attention was gender-specific. Specifically, women's attention was gender-specific to low-intensity stimuli but nonspecific for masturbation and same-sex dyadic stimuli. Women's attention was gender-specific for mixed-sex dyadic stimuli, but with greater attention directed toward nonpreferred gender targets. Overall, contextual cues impact women's attention to a greater degree than men's. Potential explanations for these findings and implications of stimulus selection for sexuality research are discussed.

The Empirical Status of the Preparation Hypothesis: Explicating Women's Genital Responses to Sexual Stimuli in the Laboratory

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.

Event-Related Potentials in Women on the Pill: Neural Correlates of Positive and Erotic Stimulus Processing in Oral Contraceptive Users

Background/Aims: Exposure toward positive emotional cues with - and without - reproductive significance plays a crucial role in daily life and regarding well-being as well as mental health. While possible adverse effects of oral contraceptive (OC) use on female mental and sexual health are widely discussed, neural processing of positive emotional stimuli has not been systematically investigated in association with OC use. Considering reported effects on mood, well-being and sexual function, and proposed associations with depression, it was hypothesized that OC users showed reduced neural reactivity toward positive and erotic emotional stimuli during early as well as later stages of emotional processing and also rated these stimuli as less pleasant and less arousing compared to naturally cycling (NC) women. Method: Sixty-two female subjects (29 NC and 33 OC) were assessed at three time points across the natural menstrual cycle and corresponding time points of the OC regimen. Early (early posterior negativity, EPN) and late (late positive potential, LPP) event-related potentials in reaction to positive, erotic and neutral stimuli were collected during an Emotional Picture Stroop Paradigm (EPSP). At each appointment, subjects provided saliva samples for analysis of gonadal steroid concentration. Valence and arousal ratings were collected at the last appointment. Results: Oral contraceptive users had significantly lower endogenous estradiol and progesterone concentrations compared to NC women. No significant group differences in either subjective stimulus evaluations or neural reactivity toward positive and erotic emotional stimuli were observed. For the OC group, LPP amplitudes in reaction to erotic vs. neutral pictures differed significantly between measurement times across the OC regimen. Discussion: In this study, no evidence regarding alterations of neural reactivity toward positive and erotic stimuli in OC users compared to NC was found. Possible confounding factors and lines for future research are elaborated and discussed.

Hormones and visual attention to sexual stimuli in older men: an exploratory investigation

BACKGROUND

Testosterone is associated with sexual desire and performance in men, but little is known about cognitive mechanisms underlying this relationship. Even less is known about the influence of estradiol, despite its production from testosterone, and high receptor density in brain regions related to male sexual behavior.

METHOD

We used eye-tracking to compare men's visual attention to images of fully clothed (i.e. neutral) and minimally clothed (i.e. sexy) models in three groups: androgen-deprived (n = 6) and not androgen-deprived with prostate cancer (n = 11), and healthy controls (n = 7). We also assessed effects of serum testosterone, estradiol, and sex hormone-binding globulin levels.

RESULTS

We found no group effect for fixations to sexy compared to neutral images, and no influence of testosterone on either total fixations, or proportion of fixations to sexy images. In contrast, we found that sex hormone binding globulin positively predicted total fixations, and estradiol positively predicted proportion of total fixations on sexy images--regardless of androgen treatment status.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that visual attention to sexual stimuli in men may be significantly affected by hormones. This has potential implications for clinical populations that experience sexual side effects, such as prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy.

Sex Differences in the Motivation for Viewing Sexually Arousing Images

Sexual motivation strongly influences mate choice and dating behavior and can be triggered by merely viewing sexually arousing visual images, such as erotic pictures and movies. Previous studies suggested that men, more than women, tend to search for sexual cues that signal promiscuity in short-term mates. However, it remains to be tested whether sex differences in the motivation to view sexual cues can be observed by using robust and well-controlled behavioral measures. To this end, we employed a pay-per-view key-pressing task. Japanese self-identified heterosexual male and female participants viewed images of men, women, or couples with two levels of sexual arousal (sexual vs. less sexual). Participants could alter the viewing time of a presented image according to their willingness to keep viewing it. Male participants were the most eager to view sexually arousing images of the opposite sex, whereas female participants were more strongly motivated to view less sexual images of couples. Such sex differences may reflect differentiated reproductive strategies between men and women in terms of men’s motivation toward promiscuity and women’s motivation toward long-term relationships.

Pornographiekonsum in der Partnerschaft

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Um die Einflüsse des Pornographiekonsums auf die Partnerschaft zu verstehen, werden Daten zum Erleben des eigenen und partnerschaftlichen Konsums benötigt. Fragestellung: Diese Studie soll einen Überblick über Häufigkeit, Einstellung, Motivation und Konsequenzen des Pornographiekonsums bei heterosexuellen Paaren geben. Methode: In der Schweiz lebende 18- bis 60-jährige Männer und Frauen in einer mindestens einjährigen Beziehung ( N = 1’091) wurden anhand eines anonymen Online-Fragebogens befragt. Ergebnisse: Frauen konsumieren aufgrund geringeren Bedürfnisses weniger und seltener allein Pornographie als Männer. Männer konsumieren eher zum Spannungsabbau, aus Unzufriedenheit mit der gemeinsamen Sexualität, eher heimlich, mit schlechtem Gewissen und zum Missfallen ihrer Frauen. Frauen konsumieren mit gutem Gefühl und von ihren Männern befürwortet. Schlussfolgerungen: Geschlechtsunterschiede beim Pornographiekonsum in der Partnerschaft geben für ein gewisses Konfliktpotential Anlass. Bei entsprechender Beratung und positiverer Einstellung kann der Konsum durchaus positive Wirkung auf die gemeinsame Sexualität haben.

Attention Bias and Recognition of Sexual Images

Attention to sexual stimuli is necessary for the development of sexual response, yet while there is some evidence of attention bias in favor of sexual stimuli, the direction and magnitude of the effect remain unknown. A high-powered sample of 113 participants was tested using the dot-probe task (DPT) and picture recognition task (PRT) to measure visuospatial attention to erotic images. Participants showed no attention bias in the DPT (r_B = 0.201, p = 0.064) but were significantly better at recognizing erotic rather than neutral or training pictures (d = 1.445 and 1.461, respectively, both p < 0.001). This indicates that spatial attention bias to sexual pictures is small, negligible, possibly even non-existent, or else the DPT is not a reliable tool to assess it. Results of the PRT, on the other hand, show that sexual stimuli are prioritized in memory and this should be explored in future research.

The role of anterior and posterior insula in male genital response and in visual attention: an exploratory multimodal fMRI study

Several studies highlighted the role of insula on several functions and in sexual behavior. This exploratory study examines the relationships among genital responses, brain responses, and eye movements, to disentangle the role played by the anterior and posterior insula during different stages of male sexual response and during visual attention to sexual stimuli. In 19 healthy men, fMRI, eye movement, and penile tumescence data were collected during a visual sexual stimulation task. After a whole-brain analysis comparing neutral and sexual clips and confirming a role for the bilateral insulae, we selected two bilateral seed regions in anterior and posterior insula for functional connectivity analysis. Single-ROI-GLMs were run for the FC target regions. Single-ROI-GLMs were performed based on areas to which participants fixate: “Faces”, “Genitals,” and “Background” with the contrast “Genitals > Faces”. Single-ROI-GLMs with baseline, onset, and sustained PT response for the sexual clips were performed. We found stronger effects for the posterior than the anterior insula. In the target regions of the posterior insula, we found three different pathways: the first involved in visual attention, onset of erection, and sustained erection; the second involved only in the onset of erection, and the third limited to sustained erection.

Retrospective Evaluation of Sequential Events and the Influence of Preference-Dependent Working Memory: A Computational Examination

Humans organize sequences of events into a single overall experience, and evaluate the aggregated experience as a whole, such as a generally pleasant dinner, movie, or trip. However, such evaluations are potentially computationally taxing, and so our brains must employ heuristics (i.e., approximations). For example, the peak-end rule hypothesis suggests that we average the peaks and end of a sequential event vs. integrating every moment. However, there is no general model to test viable hypotheses quantitatively. Here, we propose a general model and test among multiple specific ones, while also examining the role of working memory. The models were tested with a novel picture-rating task. We first compared averaging across entire sequences vs. the peak-end heuristic. Correlation tests indicated that averaging prevailed, with peak and end both still having significant prediction power. Given this, we developed generalized order-dependent and relative-preference-dependent models to subsume averaging, peak and end. The combined model improved the prediction power. However, based on limitations of relative-preference-including imposing a potentially arbitrary ranking among preferences-we introduced an absolute-preference-dependent model, which successfully explained the remembered utilities. Yet, because using all experiences in a sequence requires too much memory as real-world settings scale, we then tested "windowed" models, i.e., evaluation within a specified window. The windowed (absolute) preference-dependent (WP) model explained the empirical data with long sequences better than without windowing. However, because fixed-windowed models harbor their own limitations-including an inability to capture peak-event influences beyond a fixed window-we then developed discounting models. With (absolute) preference-dependence added to the discounting rate, the results showed that the discounting model reflected the actual working memory of the participants, and that the preference-dependent discounting (PD) model described different features from the WP model. Taken together, we propose a combined WP-PD model as a means by which people evaluate experiences, suggesting preference-dependent working-memory as a significant factor underlying our evaluations.

A Comparison of Sexual Arousal in Men Exposed to Visual Stimuli With and Without Facial Blurring

The role of the facial images in arousal and attraction has been examined before but never via penile plethysmography (PPG). This retrospective chart review aimed to determine the significance and magnitude of differences in arousal measured by PPG in 1,000 men exposed to slide stimuli with or without facial blurring in subjects of various ages. Arousal in response to blurred stimuli was significantly higher than nonanonymized stimuli with modest effect sizes for slides across age and gender categories. Facial blurring increased differences in arousal between adults and adolescents with a modest effect size. Our findings support the use of facial blurring to further protect the anonymity of models and limit the ethical and legal challenges of using slide stimuli with child models.

The Influence of Sexual Arousal on Self-Reported Sexual Willingness and Automatic Approach to Models of Low, Medium, and High Prior Attractiveness

Anecdotal evidence suggests that sexual attraction is flexible, and that high levels of sexual arousal can promote sexual willingness and approach tendencies toward a priori low attractive mates. This experimental study tested whether heightened sexual arousal can lower the threshold for sexual willingness and automatic approach tendencies toward potential sex partners of low and medium attractiveness. Heterosexual male (n =54) and female (n =61) participants were randomly assigned to a sexual arousal or control condition. Approach tendencies were indexed using a reaction time task. Sexual willingness was indexed using participant ratings of willingness to kiss and to consider having sex with same- and other-sex models of low, medium, and high attractiveness. Overall, participants showed stronger approach to models of high and medium than of low attractiveness. Sexual arousal weakened this differential responding but did not result in a robust increase of approach toward less attractive other-sex or same-sex models. Sexual willingness toward less attractive models was not affected by sexual arousal. Independent of condition, women reported greater sexual willingness toward same-sex models. The current pattern of findings does not support the notion that sexual arousal promotes automatic approach and sexual willingness to a broader array of sex partners.

Perception of dynamic facial expressions of emotion between dogs and humans

Facial expressions are a core component of the emotional response of social mammals. In contrast to Darwin's original proposition, expressive facial cues of emotion appear to have evolved to be species-specific. Faces trigger an automatic perceptual process, and so, inter-specific emotion perception is potentially a challenge; since observers should not try to “read” heterospecific facial expressions in the same way that they do conspecific ones. Using dynamic spontaneous facial expression stimuli, we report the first inter-species eye-tracking study on fully unrestrained participants and without pre-experiment training to maintain attention to stimuli, to compare how two different species living in the same ecological niche, humans and dogs, perceive each other’s facial expressions of emotion. Humans and dogs showed different gaze distributions when viewing the same facial expressions of either humans or dogs. Humans modulated their gaze depending on the area of interest (AOI) being examined, emotion, and species observed, but dogs modulated their gaze depending on AOI only. We also analysed if the gaze distribution was random across AOIs in both species: in humans, eye movements were not correlated with the diagnostic facial movements occurring in the emotional expression, and in dogs, there was only a partial relationship. This suggests that the scanning of facial expressions is a relatively automatic process. Thus, to read other species’ facial emotions successfully, individuals must overcome these automatic perceptual processes and employ learning strategies to appreciate the inter-species emotional repertoire.

Preference-based serial decisions are counterintuitively influenced by emotion regulation and conscientiousness

Our decisions have a temporally distributed order, and different choice orders (e.g., choosing preferred items first or last) can lead to vastly different experiences. We previously found two dominant strategies (favorite-first and favorite-last) in a preference-based serial choice setting (the 'sushi problem'). However, it remains unclear why these two opposite behavioral patterns arise: i.e., the mechanisms underlying them. Here we developed a novel serial-choice task, using pictures based on attractiveness, to test for a possible shared mechanism with delay discounting, the 'peak-end' bias (i.e., preference for experienced sequences that end well), or working-memory capacity. We also collected psychological and clinical metric data on personality, depression, anxiety, and emotion regulation. We again found the two dominant selection strategies. However, the results of the delay, peak-end bias, and memory capacity tasks were not related to serial choice, while two key psychological metrics were: emotion regulation and conscientiousness (with agreeableness also marginally related). Favorite-first strategists actually regulated emotions better, suggesting better tolerance of negative outcomes. Whereas participants with more varied strategies across trials were more conscientious (and perhaps agreeable), suggesting that they were less willing to settle for a single, simpler strategy. Our findings clarify mechanisms underlying serial choice and show that it may reflect a unique ability to organize choices into sequences of events.

Attentional bias toward and distractibility by sexual cues: A meta-analytic integration

From an evolutionary perspective, sexual stimuli are highly salient and are assumed to be processed with high priority. Hence, attentional processing of sexual cues is expected to not only bias attention but to also distract from other cognitive (foreground) tasks. It is, however, unclear to what extent these stimuli capture attention and whether there are differences between men and women. This meta-analysis combined the results of 32 studies employing experiments of attentional bias toward and distraction by sexual stimuli. From these, 13 studies provided data to examine gender differences. Overall, attentional bias and distractibility was lower than anticipated (g_z = 0.43, p < .001) and there was support for the assumption of higher attention bias/interference in men (g_s = 0.29, p = .031). Importantly, there was evidence for the presence of publication bias. With this in mind, findings are discussed in the context of stimulus features, the impact of provoked sexual arousal and motivational state, and gender-specific and -nonspecific neural processing of sexual stimuli which influence attention toward them.

“I can see you”: The impact of implied social presence on visual attention to erotic and neutral stimuli in men and women

The watchful eye of others often leads people to alter their behaviour. Eye tracking methodology has been used to create implied social presence, as well as to examine gaze patterns to erotic stimuli, but the effects of implied social presence on visual attention to erotic and neutral stimuli remains largely unknown. In the present study, we examined precisely this issue. We compared looking behaviour of men and women who were either aware that their gaze patterns were being monitored (implied social presence) and those who lacked this knowledge (no implied presence). Women in the aware condition made significantly fewer fixations than men, whereas no such gender differences were found in the unaware condition. Across both conditions, men made significantly more fixations to the erotic stimuli compared to the neutral stimuli and the background. For women, no significant differences were found in the number of fixations to the erotic stimuli and the background, although women look at these areas more than the neutral stimuli. These results demonstrate that eye tracking creates an implied social presence, and this differentially affects the looking behaviour of women versus men. Moreover, gendered sexual norms coupled with the need to manage self-presentation may influence women’s sexual urges and expressions. The inhibition of sexuality displayed by women indicates that sexual double standards still exist in society and need to be addressed. As well, theoretical, methodological, and clinical implications of eye tracking methodology should be taken into consideration in future research.

Altered Sex Ratios in Offspring of U.S. Submariners Urban Legend or Fact - Do Submariners Have More Daughters?

INTRODUCTION

There is a widespread and long-held belief in the submarine community that submariners father more daughters than the general population. The U.S. Sex Ratio at birth (males/females) has remained around 1.05 since the early 2000s. Limited evidence exists that certain environmental exposures including chemicals, heavy metals, radiation and g-forces may influence sex ratio at birth. A reduction in male births in a population has been associated with lower male fertility. A 1970 single site study showed a higher ratio of female offspring in personnel serving aboard U.S. Navy nuclear submarines than the general population. A 2004 study concluded that this was probably not true. However, this study was small, and did not evaluate the difference between children conceived during sea duty versus shore duty. They did note a higher chance of female offspring correlated with a longer time in the community, as well as an increased ratio in sonar technicians. These findings warrant further investigation.

METHODS

An electronic survey was e-mailed to submariners, after receiving required IRB and Navy approvals. Participants were asked birth year, year they entered submarine service, and how many children they had. For each child they were asked sex, child's birth year, mother's birth year, and whether they were on sea duty or shore duty at the time of conception. Those who were on sea duty at the time of conception were asked what their job was, where they were stationed and what type of submarine they were on. Those who were on shore duty at the time of conception were asked whether they were in contact with submarines on a regular basis, whether they were officer or enlisted, and what region they were stationed in for shore duty.

RESULTS

Four thousand eight hundred responses were received with a total of 6,958 children included in the analysis. Respondents had a SR of 0.95 compared to 1.05 U.S. population in 2015 (p < 0.0001). Submariners on sea duty had a SR of 0.88 compared to 1.02 on shore duty (p = 0.007). Those who had regular submarine contact on shore duty had a SR of 0.72 compared to 1.17 in those who did not (p < 0.001). Geographical location during shore duty did show differences that were statistically significant (p = 0.018). Geographical location during sea duty did not show significant differences. No significant differences were seen for paternal age, maternal age, job during sea duty, type of submarine assigned to or time in community.

CONCLUSION

The submariners surveyed reported greater numbers of daughters than the general population, especially when on sea duty or in regular contact with submarines during shore duty. Further study should be done to confirm results and explore possible etiologies of differences in sex ratio.

Phase of the menstrual cycle affects engagement of attention with emotional images

Changes that occur during the menstrual cycle affect various aspects of behavior, cognition, and emotion. Here, we focused on potential differences between early follicular and midluteal phases in the way women process images of behaviorally relevant content categories: children, threat, disgust, erotic scenes, low- and high-calorie food. Using eye-tracking, we examined women's engagement of attention in the key region of each image in a free-viewing condition. Specifically, we tested how quickly attention was attracted to these regions and for how long it was held there. Participants took part in two experimental sessions, one in the early follicular and one in the midluteal phase. The results showed that in the midluteal phase attention was attracted to the key region earlier than in the early follicular phase: the first fixation more often fell within the key region and there were fewer fixations preceding it. While the effect of the phase in terms of the capture of attention did not depend on the image category, the effect regarding the hold of attention was category-specific, concerning the disgust category only. Specifically, in the midluteal phase the duration of the exploration of the key region between reaching it for the first time and first exiting it was shorter, which might be due to heightened sensitivity to disgusting stimuli in this period. Overall, our results indicate the occurrence of changes in attentional processing of emotional scenes related to the menstrual cycle, which seem to differ depending on the aspect of attention deployment: in the midluteal phase the effect of enhancing orienting was general and concerned any important visual information, whereas the effect of the shortened hold of attention appeared to be limited to specific content.

There's More to Humanity Than Meets the Eye: Differences in Gaze Behavior Toward Women and Gynoid Robots

Based on evolutionary psychological theories, numerous eye-tracking studies have demonstrated how people visually perceive a potential mate in order to efficiently estimate the person’s mate value. Companies are currently working on sexualized robots that provide numerous human-like visual cues which foster the visual resemblance to humans. To gain more elaborated knowledge on how people react to sexualized robots compared with humans, the present study empirically investigated whether heterosexual males transfer deep-rooted evolutionary psychological processes of mate perception to human-like and machine-like sexualized robots. Moreover, we aimed to learn more about the processes of orienting responses toward human and non-human stimuli and about potential predictors of visual attention to robots. Therefore, we conducted an eye-tracking study in which 15 heterosexual men, 12 homosexual men, and 18 heterosexual women were confronted with stimuli showing women, human-like gynoid robots and machine-like gynoid robots. For the sample as a whole, there was no difference in the amount of time spent looking at the human and non-human breasts. However, the results for the heterosexual males supported the assumption that human breasts attract more visual attention than do the breast areas of human-like and machine-like robots. The pelvic region yielded an unexpected gaze pattern, as all participants spent more time looking at the robotic pelvic area than at the human one, with more visual attention paid to the machine-like robots than to the human-like robots. The results of the viewing times toward the head revealed that all participants had a stronger need to gain visual information about the human head in comparison to the robotic heads, underlining the importance of authenticity in terms of emotions and motivations that can only be decoded in humans. Moreover, the study showed that individuals more frequently switched their visual attention toward different body parts of the robots in comparison to the female stimuli, implying that non-human sexualized representations evoked a higher need for visual exploration.

The Woman's Body (Not the Man's One) Is Used to Evaluate Sexual Desire: An Eye-Tracking Study of Automatic Visual Attention

INTRODUCTION

Vision of the human body has been shown to be key in eliciting sexual desire. However, whether the visual pattern characterizing sexual desire is different in women and men is still unclear.

AIM

To investigate the effect of gender on visual patterns triggered by an identical set of stimuli depicting attractive heterosexual couples.

METHODS

Heterosexual women and men (n = 106) were tested on a picture-viewing task associated with eye tracking. The context of sexual desire was activated by asking the participant whether they perceived such desire while looking at sensual pictures of heterosexual couples. Data were analyzed using mixed-subject design analyses of variance.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Fixation durations were used to investigate visual patterns. 2 areas of interest were created to investigate visual patterns (face vs body area).

RESULTS

Results showed longer fixations on body rather than face areas irrespective of participant gender. Moreover, all participants looked longer at women's than men's bodies and at the faces of the opposite sex.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

These findings shed light on the automatic processes underlying sexual desire, which has the potential to improve the care of patients suffering from sexual disorders by optimizing interventions.

STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS

The strengths of this study are the use of an eye-tracking paradigm, the dissociation between 2 fixation areas (ie, face and body), and the use of an identical set of stimuli allowing an accurate between-gender comparison of the visual pattern. The limitations are the small sample size, the use of healthy heterosexual individuals, and the absence of measures of sexual arousal and genital response.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings confirm the association between the human body and sexual desire. They also reveal the unique attentional attractiveness of woman's bodies across genders. Bolmont M, Bianchi-Demicheli F, Boisgontier MP, et al. The Woman's Body (Not the Man's One) Is Used to Evaluate Sexual Desire: An Eye-Tracking Study of Automatic Visual Attention. J Sex Med 2019;16:195-202.

Differences in Visual Attention Patterns to Sexually Mature and Immature Stimuli Between Heterosexual Sexual Offenders, Nonsexual Offenders, and Nonoffending Men

Men, whether gynephilic or androphilic, show both early and late attention toward adults and not toward children. We examined early and late visual attention to sexually mature versus immature stimuli in four groups of heterosexual men: sexual offenders against children (SOAC = 18), sexual offenders against adults (SOAA = 16), nonsexual offenders (NSO = 18), and nonoffending men (NOM = 19). We simultaneously presented adult and child stimuli and measured time to first fixation, number of first fixations, total duration of fixation, and fixation count to four areas of interest: entire body, then face, chest, and pelvis. We found a significant interaction where only SOAC tended to fixate more first times to child than to adult stimuli. Conversely, we found longer total duration of fixations for the bodies of adults compared to the bodies of children in all groups; however, in both the total duration of fixations and the fixation count for the whole body, but especially in the chest, SOAC tended to fixate longer and more often on child stimuli than the other two groups of offenders, but not longer or more often than NOM. This study adds to the limited research using eye-tracking techniques in samples of SOAC.

Visual Attention Patterns Differ in Gynephilic and Androphilic Men and Women Depending on Age and Gender of Targets

Visual attention patterns measured with eye-tracking techniques provide indirect clues about sexual response. This study aimed to test the category specificity of sexual responses to stimuli varying in gender and age by evaluating both early and late attention of gynephilic and androphilic men and women. We simultaneously presented sexually preferred and nonpreferred stimuli and measured time to first fixation and total duration of fixation on four areas of interest: entire body, then face, chest, and pelvis. Androphilic women's early attention patterns were nonspecific, whereas gynephilic women and both groups of men showed a category-specific pattern for the entire body. In contrast, all groups showed gender-specific patterns of late attention for all areas of interest. We also found support for age specificity of early and late visual attention in all four groups, with greater attention to adult than child stimuli. This study supports the usefulness of a competing stimulus eye-tracking paradigm as a method to examine gender specificity in gynephilic women and androphilic and gynephilic men, and as a measure of age specificity in gynephilic and androphilic men and women.

Broad Autism Phenotypic Traits and the Relationship to Sexual Orientation and Sexual Behavior

Individuals with higher levels of the broad autism phenotype (BAP) have some symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Like individuals with ASD, people with higher-BAP may have fewer sexual experiences and may experience more same-sex attraction. This study measured BAP traits, sexual experiences, and sexual orientation in typically developing (TD) individuals to see if patterns of sexual behavior and sexual orientation in higher-BAP resemble those in ASD. Although BAP characteristics did not predict sexual experiences, one BAP measure significantly predicted sexual orientation, β = 0.22, t = 2.72, p = .007, controlling for demographic variables (R² change = .04, F = 7.41, p = .007), showing individuals with higher-BAP also reported increased same-sex attraction. This finding supports the hypothesis that individuals with higher-BAP resemble ASD individuals in being more likely than TD individuals to experience same-sex attraction.

Menstrual cycle phase predicts women's hormonal responses to sexual stimuli

A robust body of research has demonstrated shifts in women's sexual desire and arousal across the menstrual cycle, with heightened desire and arousal coincident with heightened probability of conception (POC), and it is likely that ovarian hormones modulate these shifts. However, studies in which women are exposed to audiovisual sexual stimuli (AVSS) at high POC (mid-follicular) and low POC (luteal) phases have failed to detect significant differences in genital or subjective arousal patterns based on menstrual cycle phase. Here, we tested whether hormonal responsivity to AVSS differs as a function of cycle phase at testing, and whether phase during which participants were first exposed to AVSS influences hormonal responsivity in subsequent test sessions. Twenty-two naturally cycling heterosexual women were exposed to AVSS during the follicular and luteal phases, with phase at first test session counterbalanced across participants. Salivary samples were collected before and after AVSS exposure. Estradiol increased significantly during both follicular and luteal phase sessions, and increases were higher during the follicular phase. Testosterone (T) increased significantly only during the follicular phase session, while progesterone (P) did not change significantly during either cycle phase. Session order and current cycle phase interacted to predict P and T responses, such that P and T increased during the follicular phase in women who were first tested during the luteal phase. These data suggest that menstrual cycle phase influences hormonal responsivity to AVSS, and contribute to a growing body of clinical and empirical literature on the neuroendocrine modulators of women's sexuality.

The effect of static versus dynamic stimuli on visual processing of sexual cues in androphilic women and gynephilic men

Models of sexual response posit that attentional processing of sexual cues is requisite for sexual responding. Despite hypothesized similarities in the underlying processes resulting in sexual response, gender differences in sexual arousal patterns are abundant. One such gender difference relates to the stimulus features (e.g. gender cues, sexual activity cues) that elicit a response in men and women. In this study, we examined how stimulus modality (static visual images versus dynamic audiovisual films) and stimulus features (gender, sexual activity and nonsexual contextual cues) influences attentional (i.e. gaze) and elaborative (i.e. self-reported attraction (SRA), self-reported arousal) processing of sexual stimuli. Men's initial and controlled attention was consistently gender-specific (i.e. greater attention towards female targets), and this was not influenced by stimulus modality or the presence of sexual activity cues. By contrast, gender-specificity of women's attention patterns differed as a function of attentional stage, stimulus modality and the features within the stimulus. Degree of specificity was positively predictive of SRA in both genders; however, it was not significantly predictive of self-reported arousal. These findings are discussed in the context of gendered processing of visual sexual information, including a discussion of implications for research designs.

Neural Correlates of Sexual Orientation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual Women

We used fMRI to investigate neural correlates of responses to erotic pictures and videos in heterosexual (N = 26), bisexual (N = 26), and homosexual (N = 24) women, ages 25–50. We focused on the ventral striatum, an area of the brain associated with desire, extending previous findings from the sexual psychophysiology literature in which homosexual women had greater category specificity (relative to heterosexual and bisexual women) in their responses to male and female erotic stimuli. We found that homosexual women’s subjective and neural responses reflected greater bias towards female stimuli, compared with bisexual and heterosexual women, whose responses did not significantly differ. These patterns were also suggested by whole brain analyses, with homosexual women showing category-specific activations of greater extents in visual and auditory processing areas. Bisexual women tended to show more mixed patterns, with activations more responsive to female stimuli in sensory processing areas, and activations more responsive to male stimuli in areas associated with social cognition.

Differences in Neural Response to Romantic Stimuli in Monogamous and Non-Monogamous Men

In non-human animal research, studies comparing socially monogamous and promiscuous species of voles (Microtus) have identified some key neural differences related to monogamy and non-monogamy. Specifically, densities of the vasopressin V1a receptor and dopamine D2 receptors in subcortical reward-related and limbic areas of the brain have been linked to monogamous behavior in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Similar brain areas have been shown to be correlated with feelings of romantic love in monogamously pair-bonded humans. Humans vary in the degree to which they engage in (non-)monogamous behaviors. The present study examined the differences in neural activation in response to sexual and romantic stimuli in monogamous (n = 10) and non-monogamous (n = 10) men. Results indicated that monogamous men showed more reward-related neural activity when viewing romantic pictures compared to non-monogamous men. Areas with increased activation for monogamous men were all in the right hemisphere and included the thalamus, accumbens, striatum, pallidum, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. There were no significant differences between groups in activation to sexual stimuli. These results demonstrate that the neural processing of romantic images is different for monogamous and non-monogamous men. There is some overlap in the neural areas showing increased activation in monogamous men in the present study and the neural areas that show differences in the vole models of monogamy and affiliation. Future research will be needed to clarify whether similar factors are contributing to the neural differences seen in monogamous and non-monogamous humans and voles.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of the mirror neuron system during social intentions

Previous research has shown that specific goals and intentions influence a person's allocation of social attention. From a neural viewpoint, a growing body of evidence suggests that the inferior fronto-parietal network, including the mirror neuron system, plays a role in the planning and the understanding of motor intentions. However, it is unclear whether and when the mirror neuron system plays a role in social intentions. Combining a behavioral task with electrical neuroimaging in 22 healthy male participants, the current study investigates whether the temporal brain dynamic of the mirror neuron system differs during two types of social intentions i.e., lust vs. romantic intentions. Our results showed that 62% of the stimuli evoking lustful intentions also evoked romantic intentions, and both intentions were sustained by similar activations of the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule/angular gyrus for the first 432 ms after stimulus onset. Intentions to not love or not lust, on the other hand, were characterized by earlier differential activations of the inferior fronto-parietal network i.e., as early as 244 ms after stimulus onset. These results suggest that the mirror neuron system may not only code for the motor correlates of intentions, but also for the social meaning of intentions and its valence at both early/automatic and later/more elaborative stages of information processing.

Selecting pure-emotion materials from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) by Chinese university students: A study based on intensity-ratings only

There is a need to use selected pictures with pure emotion as stimulation or treatment media for basic and clinical research. Pictures from the widely-used International Affective Picture System (IAPS) contain rich emotions, but no study has clearly stated that an emotion is exclusively expressed in its putative IAPS picture to date. We hypothesize that the IAPS images contain at least pure vectors of disgust, erotism (or erotica), fear, happiness, sadness and neutral emotions. Accordingly, we have selected 108 IAPS images, each with a specific emotion, and invited 219 male and 274 female university students to rate only the intensity of the emotion conveyed in each picture. Their answers were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Four first-order factors manifested as disgust-fear, happiness-sadness, erotism, and neutral. Later, ten second-order sub-factors manifested as mutilation-disgust, vomit-disgust, food-disgust, violence-fear, happiness, sadness, couple- erotism, female-erotism, male- erotism, and neutral. Fifty-nine pictures for the ten sub-factors, which had established good model-fit indices, satisfactory sub-factor internal reliabilities, and prominent gender-differences in the picture intensity ratings were ultimately retained. We thus have selected a series of pure-emotion IAPS pictures, which together displayed both satisfactorily convergent and discriminant structure-validities. We did not intend to evaluate all IAPS items, but instead selected some pictures conveying pure emotions, which might help both basic and clinical researches in the future.

Gender-Specificity in Viewing Time Among Heterosexual Women

Measures of sexual interest tend to be more gender-specific in heterosexual men than in heterosexual women. Cognitive measures, such as viewing time to attractive stimuli, may also show similar patterns of gender-specificity or nonspecificity among men and women and thus serve as useful adjuncts to more direct measures of sexual interest. The objectives of the present research were to determine the extent of gender-specificity in women's viewing times for female pictures (varying in their perceived physical attractiveness) and explore the influence of social comparison of physical appearance on these patterns of responses. In Study 1, we recorded only women's viewing times for pictures of both genders, measured self-reported menstrual cycle phase, and manipulated the waist-to-hip ratio of the women in the female pictures. In Study 2, we recorded women's and men's viewing times, self-reported sexual attraction to pictures of males and females, and physical appearance social comparison. Study 1 found that heterosexual women's viewing time toward female pictures was not associated with manipulation of the perceived attractiveness of those pictures. Study 2 found that heterosexual men were more gender-specific than heterosexual women in their viewing time patterns. We also found that reported sexual attraction and physical appearance social comparison were associated with heterosexual women's viewing times for female pictures, while heterosexual men's viewing times were associated with sexual attraction only. Our results are discussed in relation to the utility of viewing time as an indicator of visual attention toward attractive or sexually appealing visual stimuli.