Author:

Keywords:

sexual stimuli, erotic films, sexual arousal, gender differences, Social Sciences, Psychology, Clinical, Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary, Psychology, Social Sciences - Other Topics, MASTURBATION-INDUCED ORGASM, AROUSAL, STIMULI, WOMEN, MEN, DISORDER, BEHAVIOR, PATTERNS, Adult, Choice Behavior, Erotica, Female, Humans, Male, Masturbation, Motion Pictures, Random Allocation, Research, Sex Factors, Sexual Behavior, Surveys and Questionnaires, Visual Perception, 1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1699 Other Studies in Human Society, 1701 Psychology, Clinical Psychology, 4405 Gender studies, 5203 Clinical and health psychology, 5205 Social and personality psychology

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in sexual responsiveness to erotic films that had been selected for their differential appeal for men and women. A secondary objective was to identify variables that influence sexual arousal and explore whether these variables differ for men and women. Fifteen men (M age = 26 yrs) and 17 women (M age = 24 yrs) were presented with 20 film clips depicting heterosexual interactions, half of which were female- and the other half male-selected, and were asked to rate the clips on a number of dimensions. Overall, men found the film clips more sexually arousing than did the women. Gender differences in arousal were negligible for female-selected clips but substantial for male-selected clips. Furthermore, men and women experienced higher levels of sexual arousal to clips selected for individuals of their own gender. Cluster regression analyses, explaining 77% of the variance for male and 65% for female participants, revealed that men's sexual arousal was dependent upon the attractiveness of the female actor, feeling interested, and both "imagining oneself as a participant" and "watching as an observer." For women, with all variables entered, only "imagining oneself as a participant" contributed to sexual arousal ratings. The findings suggest that how films are selected in sex research is an important variable in predicting levels of sexual arousal reported by men and women.