Examining gender specificity of sexual response with concurrent thermography and plethysmography

Psychophysiology

Volumn 52, Issue 10, 2015, Pages 1382-1395

  Huberman, Jackie S ^a   Chivers, Meredith L ^a  

^a QUEEN S UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Plethysmography; Psychophysiology; Sexual arousal; Sexuality; Thermography

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AROUSAL; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; PENIS; PHYSIOLOGY; PLETHYSMOGRAPHY; SEX DIFFERENCE; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT; THERMOGRAPHY; VAGINA; YOUNG ADULT;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AROUSAL; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; PENIS; PLETHYSMOGRAPHY; SEX CHARACTERISTICS; SEX FACTORS; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; THERMOGRAPHY; VAGINA; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84940795655     PISSN: 00485772     EISSN: 14698986     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12466     Document Type: Article

References (75)

1. Adams, A. E., Haynes, S. N., & Brayer, M. A. (1985). Cognitive distraction in female sexual arousal. Psychophysiology, 22, 689-696. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1985.tb01669.x
2. Bancroft, J. H., Jones, H. G., & Pullan, B. R. (1966). A simple transducer for measuring penile erection with comments on its use in the treatment of sexual disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 4, 239-241. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(66)90015-5
3. Barlow, D., Becker, R., Leitenberg, H., & Agras, W. (1970). A mechanical strain gauge for recording penile circumference change. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 3, 73-76. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1970.3-73
4. Barr, R. F., & McConaghy, N. (1971). Penile volume responses to appetitive and aversive stimuli in relation to sexual orientation and conditioning performance. British Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 377-383. doi: 10.1192/bjp.119.551.377
5. Bossio, J. A, Suschinsky, K. D., Puts, D. A, & Chivers, M. L. (2014). Does menstrual cycle phase influence the gender specificity of heterosexual women's genital and subjective sexual arousal? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 941-952. doi: 10.1007/s10508-013-0233-7
6. Cherner, R. A., & Reissing, E. D. (2013). A psychophysiological investigation of sexual arousal in women with lifelong vaginismus. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10, 1291-1303. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12102
7. Chivers, M. L., & Bailey, J. M. (2005). A sex difference in features that elicit genital response. Biological Psychology, 70, 115-120. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.12.002
8. Chivers, M. L., Rieger, G., Latty, E., & Bailey, J. M. (2004). A sex difference in the specificity of sexual arousal. Psychological Science, 15, 736-744. doi: 10.1111/j.0956- 7976.2004.00750.x
9. Chivers, M. L., Roy, C., Grimbos, T., Cantor, J. M., & Seto, M. C. (2014). Specificity of sexual arousal for preferred sexual activities in men and women with conventional and masochistic sexual interests. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 931-940. doi: 10.1007/s10508-013-0174-1
10. Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., & Blanchard, R. (2007). Gender and sexual orientation differences in sexual response to sexual activities versus gender of actors in sexual films. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 1108-1121. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1108
11. Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., Lalumière, M. L., Laan, E., & Grimbos, T. (2010). Agreement of self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal in men and women: A meta-analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 5-56. doi: 10.1007/s10508-009-9556-9
12. Chivers, M. L., & Timmers, A. D. (2012). Effects of gender and relationship context in audio narratives on genital and subjective sexual response in heterosexual women and men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 185-197. doi: 10.1007/s10508-012-9937-3
13. Elliott, A., & O'Donohue, W. (1997). The effects of anxiety and distraction on sexual arousal in a nonclinical sample of heterosexual women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 607-624. doi: 10.1023/A:1024524326105
14. Fothergill, A. (Director). (2006). Planet earth [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation Home Entertainment.
15. Freund, K., Langevin, R., Cibiri, S., & Zajac, Y. (1973). Heterosexual aversion in homosexual males. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 163-169. doi: 10.1192/bjp.122.2.163
16. Gaither, G. A., & Plaud, J. J. (1997). The effects of secondary stimulus characteristics on men's sexual arousal. Journal of Sex Research, 34, 231-236. doi: 10.1080/00224499709551890
17. Geer, J. H., & Fuhr, R. (1976). Cognitive factors in sexual arousal: The role of distraction. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44, 238-243. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.44.2.238
18. Geer, J. H., Lapour, K. J., & Jackson, S. R. (1993). The information processing approach to human sexuality. In N. Birbaumer & A. Ohman (Eds.), The structure of emotion: Psychophysiological, cognitive, and clinical aspects (pp. 139-155). Kirkland, WA: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
19. Geer, J. H., Morokoff, P., & Greenwood, P. (1974). Sexual arousal in women: The development of a measurement device for vaginal blood volume. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 3, 559- 564. doi: 10.1007/BF01541137
20. Gerritsen, J., van der Made, F., Bloemers, J., van Ham, D., Kleiverda, G., Everaerd, W., . Tuiten, A. (2009). The clitoral photoplethysmograph: A new way of assessing genital arousal in women. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 6, 1678-1687. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01228.x
21. Hakvoort, K. (1999). VPA/VBV probe assembly. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology.
22. Henson, D., & Rubin, H. (1978). A comparison of two objective measures of sexual arousal of women. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16, 143-151. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(78)90060-8
23. Henson, C., Rubin, H., & Henson, D. (1979). Women's sexual arousal concurrently assessed by three genital measures. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 8, 459-469. doi: 10.1007/BF01541413
24. Henson, D., Rubin, H., Henson, C., & Williams, J. R. (1977). Temperature change of the labia minora as an objective measure of female eroticism. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 8, 401-410. doi: 10.1016/0005-7916(77)90011-8
25. Huberman, J. S., Maracle, A. C., & Chivers, M. L. (2014). Gender-specificity of women's and men's attention to sexual stimuli. Journal of Sex Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2014.951424
26. Huberman, J. S., Suschinsky, K. D., Lalumière, M. L., & Chivers, M. L. (2013). Relationship between impression management and three measures of women's self-reported sexual arousal. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 45, 259-273. doi: 10.1037/a0033397
27. Israel, E., & Strassberg, D. S. (2009). Viewing time as an objective measure of sexual interest in heterosexual men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 551-558. doi: 10.1007/s10508-007-9246-4
28. Janssen, E., Everaerd, W., Spiering, M., & Janssen, J. (2000). Automatic processes and the appraisal of sexual stimuli: Toward an information processing model of sexual arousal. Journal of Sex Research, 37, 8-23. doi: 10.1080/00224490009552016
29. Janssen, E., & Geer, J. (2000). The sexual response system. In J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, & G. G. Bernston (Eds.), Handbook of psychophysiology (2nd ed., pp. 315-341). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
30. Jennings, J. R. (1987). Editorial policy on analyses of variance with repeated measures. Psychophysiology, 24, 474-475. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1987.tb00320.x
31. Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., & Martin, C. E. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
32. Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., Martin, C. E., & Gebhard, P. H. (1953). Sexual behavior in the human female. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders.
33. Kukkonen, T. M. (2014). What is the best method of measuring the physiology of female sexual arousal? Current Sexual Health Reports, 6, 30-37. doi: 10.1007/s11930-013- 0010-6
34. Kukkonen, T. M., Binik, Y. M., Amsel, R., & Carrier, S. (2007). Thermography as a physiological measure of sexual arousal in both men and women. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 4, 93-105. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2006.00399.x
35. Kukkonen, T. M., Binik, Y. M., Amsel, R., & Carrier, S. (2010). An evaluation of the validity of thermography as a physiological measure of sexual arousal in a non-university adult sample. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 861-873. doi: 10.1007/s10508-009-9496-4
36. Laan, E. (1994). Determinants of sexual arousal in women. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: University of Amsterdam.
37. Laan, E., & Both, S. (2008). What makes women experience desire? Feminism and Psychology, 18, 505-514. doi: 10.1177/0959353508095533
38. Laan, E., Everaerd, W., & Evers, A. (1995). Assessment of female sexual arousal: Response specificity and construct validity. Psychophysiology, 32, 476-485. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1995.tb02099.x
39. Levin, R. J. (1998). Sex and the human female reproductive tract-What really happens during and after coitus. International Journal of Impotence Research, 10, 14-21. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9669216
40. Levin, R. J. (2003). The ins and outs of vaginal lubrication. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 18, 509-513. doi: 10.1080/14681990310001609859
41. Levin, R. J., & Riley, A. (2007). The physiology of human sexual function. Psychiatry, 6, 90-94. doi: 10.1016/j.mppsy.2007.01.004
42. Lykins, A. D., Meana, M., & Strauss, G. P. (2008). Sex differences in visual attention to erotic and non-erotic stimuli. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 219-228. doi: 10.1007/s10508- 007-9208-x
43. Mahaffey, A. L., Bryan, A., & Hutchison, K. E. (2005). Sex differences in affective responses to homoerotic stimuli: Evidence for an unconscious bias among heterosexual men, but not heterosexual women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 537-545. doi: 10.1007/s10508-005-6279-4
44. Meston, C. M., & Frohlich, P. F. (2000). The neurobiology of sexual function. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 1012-1030. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.57.11.1012
45. Meston, C. M., & Gorzalka, B. B. (1996). The effects of immediate, delayed, and residual sympathetic activation on sexual arousal in women. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 143-148. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(95)00050-X
46. Payne, K. A., & Binik, Y. M. (2006). Reviving the labial thermistor clip. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 111-113. doi: 10.1007/s10508-005-9017-z
47. Peterson, Z. D., Janssen, E., & Laan, E. (2010). Women's sexual responses to heterosexual and lesbian erotica: The role of stimulus intensity, affective reaction, and sexual history. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 880-897. doi: 10.1007/s10508-009-9546-y
48. Polan, M. L., Desmond, J. E., Banner, L. L., Pryor, M. R., McCallum, S. W., Atlas, S. W., . Arnow, B. A. (2003). Female sexual arousal: A behavioral analysis. Fertility and Sterility, 80, 1480-1487. doi: 10.1016/S0015-0282(03)02210-6
49. Prause, N., Cerny, J., & Janssen, E. (2005). The labial photoplethysmograph: A new instrument for assessing genital hemodynamic changes in women. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2, 58-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2005.20106.x
50. Prause, N., & Heiman, J. R. (2009). Assessing female sexual arousal with the labial thermistor: Response specificity and construct validity. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 72, 115-122. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.11.002
51. Prause, N., & Heiman, J. (2010). Reduced labial temperature in response to sexual films with distractors among women with lower sexual desire. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 7, 951-963. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01525.x
52. Puppo, V. (2011). Embryology and anatomy of the vulva: The female orgasm and women's sexual health. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 154, 3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2010.08.009
53. Puppo, V. (2013). Anatomy and physiology of the clitoris, vestibular bulbs, and labia minora with a review of the female orgasm and the prevention of female sexual dysfunction. Clinical Anatomy, 26, 134-152. doi: 10.1002/ca.22177
54. Rellini, A. H., McCall, K. M., Randall, P. K., & Meston, C. M. (2005). The relationship between women's subjective and physiological sexual arousal. Psychophysiology, 42, 116-124. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2005.00259.x
55. Rieger, G., Cash, B. M., Merrill, S. M., Jones-Rounds, J., Dharmavaram, S. M., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (2015). Sexual arousal: The correspondence of eyes and genitals. Biological Psychology, 104, 56-64. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.11.009
56. Rieger, G., Chivers, M. L., & Bailey, J. M. (2005). Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men. Psychological Science, 16, 579-584. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01578.x
57. Rupp, H. A., & Wallen, K. (2007). Sex differences in viewing sexual stimuli: An eye-tracking study in men and women. Hormones and Behavior, 51, 524-533. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2007.01.008
58. Sakheim, D. K., Barlow, D. H., Beck, J. G., & Abrahamson, D. J. (1985). A comparison of male heterosexual and male homosexual patterns of sexual arousal. Journal of Sex Research, 21, 183-198. doi: 10.1080/00224498509551257
59. Salemink, E., & van Lankveld, J. J. D. M. (2006). The effects of increasing neutral distraction on sexual responding of women with and without sexual problems. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 179-190. doi: 10.1007/s10508-005-9014-2
60. Schmidt, G. (1975). Male-female differences in sexual arousal and behavior during and after exposure to sexually explicit stimuli. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 4, 353-365. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4684-2280-1_4
61. Sintchak, G., & Geer, J. (1975). A vaginal plethysmograph system. Psychophysiology, 12, 113-115. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1975.tb03074.x
62. Slob, A., Bax, C., Hop, W. C., Rowland, D. L., & van der Werff ten Bosch, J. J. (1996). Sexual arousability and the menstrual cycle. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 21, 545-558. doi: 10.1016/0306-4530(95)00058-5
63. Slob, A., Ernste, M., & van der Werff ten Bosch, J. J. (1991). Menstrual cycle phase and sexual arousability in women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 20, 567-577. doi: 10.1007/BF01550955
64. Snowden, R. J., & Gray, N. S. (2013). Implicit sexual associations in heterosexual and homosexual women and men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 475-485. doi: 10.1007/s10508-012-9920-z
65. Spape, J., Timmers, A., Yoon, S., Ponseti, J., & Chivers, M. L. (2014). The role of prepotent sexual features in heterosexual women's nonspecific sexual arousal. Biological Psychology, 102, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.07.008.
66. Strassberg, D. S., & Lowe, K. (1995). Volunteer bias in sexuality research. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 24, 369-382. doi: 10.1007/BF01541853
67. Suschinsky, K. D., Bossio, J. A., & Chivers, M. L. (2014). Women's genital sexual arousal to oral versus penetrative heterosexual sex varies with menstrual cycle phase at first exposure. Hormones and Behavior, 65, 319-327. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.01.006
68. Suschinsky, K. D., Lalumière, M. L., & Chivers, M. L. (2009). Sex differences in patterns of genital sexual arousal: Measurement artifacts or true phenomena? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 559-573. doi: 10.1007/s10508-008-9339-8
69. Sylva, D., Safron, A., Rosenthal, A. M., Reber, P. J., Parrish, T. B., & Bailey, J. M. (2013). Neural correlates of sexual arousal in heterosexual and homosexual women and men. Hormones and Behavior, 64, 673-684. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.08.003
70. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2012). Using multivariate statistics. New York, NY: Pearson.
71. Toothaker, L. E. (1991). Multiple comparisons for researchers. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications Inc.
72. Waxman, S. E., & Pukall, C. F. (2009). Laser Doppler imaging of genital blood flow: A direct measure of female sexual arousal. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 6, 2278-2285. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01326.x
73. Webster, J., & Hammer, D. (1983). Thermistor measurement of male sexual arousal. Psychophysiology, 20, 111-115. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1983.tb00911.x
74. Wolchik, S. A., Braver, S. L., & Jensen, K. (1985). Volunteer bias in erotica research: Effects of intrusiveness of measure and sexual background. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 14, 93-107. doi: 10.1007/BF01541656
75. Wright, L. W., & Adams, H. E. (1999). The effects of stimuli that vary in erotic content on cognitive processes. Journal of Sex Research, 36, 145-151. doi: 10.1080/00224499909551979