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Erotic Pleasure and Pleasure-Seeking Associated with Implicit and Explicit Sexual Motives

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Abstract

Two studies examined the proposal that implicit and explicit sexual motives are associated with the experience of pleasure in sexual situations, as well as with seeking out sexual pleasure. In Study 1, implicit and explicit motive scores of 145 heterosexually identified women and 152 heterosexually identified men were demonstrated to be independently associated with the experience of pleasure in response to videos of female–male sexual behavior, more consistently so for women than men. The implicit and explicit motive scales were also associated with the frequency of viewing erotic materials in daily life. The experience of pleasure within sexual relationships was additionally shown to be associated with sexual motives, although primarily implicit motives. In Study 2 involving 139 women and 65 men, implicit motive scales were associated with ratings of interest in a potential romantic partner. The results support the conceptualization of the two instruments as measures of sexual motivation. The difference between implicit versus explicit measures in the pattern of correlations involving acquainted versus non-acquainted individuals is consistent with research on ideal partner preference.

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Notes

  1. Participant characteristics that were not included in regression models as covariates, and were not the primary focus of the study were (1) duration of current relationship; (2) number of serious, committed romantic relationships; number of children that participants (3) were the parent of, (4) had living in the household, and (5) were likely to have in the future; (6) political philosophy; (7) belief in marriage as a lifetime commitment; (8) conservativeness of and (9) intensity of religious beliefs; (10) gender of relationship partner; (11) frequency of various sexual behaviors; and (12) sexual orientation identity.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Christopher J. Gunderson, Allison Haag, Louis Bustos, Natalie Bruick, Alexandra Forsyth, Mackenzie Merkler, Manda Coupe, and Isai Valencia for assistance in collecting data for these studies. Aspects of these data were presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, May 2013, and at the annual meeting of The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, Omaha, NE, November 2014. I intend to comply with the data-sharing standard of the American Psychological Association (Ethical Standard 8.14).

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    Craig A. Hill

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Hill, C.A. Erotic Pleasure and Pleasure-Seeking Associated with Implicit and Explicit Sexual Motives. Arch Sex Behav 50, 2485–2505 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-01987-w

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