Abstract
Patterns of genital arousal to sexual stimuli are somewhat different between men and women. Heterosexual males and homosexual males show clear category specific arousal that is consistent with their self-reported sexual preference. However, heterosexual women do not show this category specificity. In the present study, we attempted to measure a person’s automatic appraisals of stimuli with respect to the concept of sex via the use of implicit measures (the Implicit Association Test and the priming task). In three experiments, we showed that heterosexual females did not show a sex-related category specific response in favor of male versus female stimuli. However, this lack of specificity was not due to a lack of sex-related appraisals, but by equal appraisals of both male and female stimuli. On the other hand, heterosexual men, homosexual men, and homosexual women all showed automatic sex-related appraisals of stimuli that were category specific and in line with their self-reported sexual preference. The study shows difference in the pattern of sexual interest between genders at the earliest stages of the evaluation of a stimulus.
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Notes
It could be argued that sexual attraction is not on a bipolar scale as people can be attracted to both males and females. In places where we have used this composite analysis, we have also run analyses using the two concepts separately. The pattern of results reported was not substantially changed by this. Results are available from the corresponding author.
We also performed a supplementary analysis using only the trials where sex words were presented and then divided as to whether they were preceded by a male or female prime. The pattern of results reported here was the same for both methods.
A supplementary analysis using the D-scoring algorithm confirms the pattern of results reported here for the IAT task.
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Acknowledgment
Thanks to Helen Maris, Kate Epsom, Zoe Maudsley, Frances Jarrett, Anthony Brown, and Helen Weir for help with data collection.
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Appendix 1
Appendix 1
Words and pictures used in the experiments. In the experiments, these pictures appeared in color.
Sexually attractive | Sexually unattractive |
|---|---|
Arousing | Forbidding |
Erotic | Repulsive |
Attractive | Disgusting |
Stimulating | Repugnant |
Sensual | Repellent |
Exciting | Ugly |
Appealing | Revolting |
Sexy | Repelling |
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Snowden, R.J., Gray, N.S. Implicit Sexual Associations in Heterosexual and Homosexual Women and Men. Arch Sex Behav 42, 475–485 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9920-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9920-z