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Measurement of sexual arousal in male homosexuals: Effects of instructions and stimulus modality

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Abstract

Erections were measured in 20 male homosexual subjects under three instructional conditions and within three stimulus modalities. The three conditions were arousal (e.g., imagine yourself involved and get aroused), suppression (e.g., imagine yourself involved but suppress erection responses), and rearousal (e.g., imagine yourself involved and get aroused). The three stimulus modalities studied were video tapes, slides or pictures, and audio tapes of homosexual cues. The results show that video tape generates the highest level of arousal, audio tape the lowest level of arousal, and slides an intermediate level. Both video tape and slides show substantial voluntary suppression effects. During suppression, video tape continues to elicit relatively high levels of arousal in contrast to slides and audio tapes, which are equally low.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, USA

    Gene G. Abel M.D., David H. Barlow Ph.D., Edward B. Blanchard Ph.D. & Matig Mavissakalian M.D.

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  1. Gene G. Abel M.D.
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  2. David H. Barlow Ph.D.
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  3. Edward B. Blanchard Ph.D.
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  4. Matig Mavissakalian M.D.
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Additional information

This research was supported in part by Research Grant MH-20258 from the National Institute of Mental Health and by United States Public Health Service Clinical Research Center Grant M01 RR00626.

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Abel, G.G., Barlow, D.H., Blanchard, E.B. et al. Measurement of sexual arousal in male homosexuals: Effects of instructions and stimulus modality. Arch Sex Behav 4, 623–629 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544270

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